


Unfamiliar Constellations

by Chizek



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2018-12-24 11:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12011451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chizek/pseuds/Chizek
Summary: Soulmates. That was the reason his mother always told him for the random markings that would show up on his skin. It was an old legend, but not unheard of. Most people just didn’t have a soulmate. Lance had found out about his soulmate early. They both enjoyed drawing on their skin. Whoever was on the other end of the pen was an artist, but Lance enjoyed adding his own shitty drawings to the artwork on his arm.Klance Soulmate AU set during season 1. What happens when one soulmate knows before the other?





	1. The Flower

Soulmates. That was the reason his mother always told him for the random markings that would show up on his skin. It was an old legend, but not unheard of. Most people just didn't have a soulmate. Lance had found out about his soulmate early. They both enjoyed drawing on their skin. Whoever was on the other end of the pen was an artist, but Lance enjoyed adding his own shitty drawings to the artwork on his arm

He went to the Garrison and he wrote notes about classes and assignments on his hands. His soulmate made similar notes. He remembered when he first saw a professor's name from the Garrison on his arm. He hadn't written it. His hear fluttered. His soulmate was at the Garrison.

He almost wrote to his soulmate in that moment. But he was scared. They never talked except for adding to each person's drawings. He wimped out. One day, he saw his soulmate had an exam written on his hand. Lance grabbed a pen and scribbled a 'good luck' under it. At first, they didn't respond, but soon he felt the tell tale pressure on his skin. He waited as a smiley face appeared. This started a trend of writing little happy notes for the other when they thought the other needed it.

There was a time when his soulmate didn't respond for a long time. No drawings, no scrawled reminders of assignments, no notes, or smiley faces. Lance was worried sick. But he couldn't tell anyone about it. He wasn't ready to meet his soulmate and he thought if he told anyone it might lead to a meeting.

But his soulmate eventually returned with drawings. They didn't talk though. Lance could feel the distance and he didn't want to push it.

Then he went to space.

And he didn't have a pen or anything to write with. He asked Pidge and Allura and Coran, but no one could help. His soulmate said nothing either. Lance accepted that the magic didn't work from this distance. Or even worse, his soulmate wasn't his soulmate anymore.

One day, after several months in space- or, a period of time that he assumed was several months- he was sitting in the kitchen with Pidge. He was eating some leftovers Hunk made a few days ago while Pidge fiddled with some technology on the table. Lance felt a familiar pressure on his arm. His entire body froze. He didn't want to get his hopes up. But his heart beat quickly. He looked down at his arm and saw the beginning of a flower he hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity.

Pidge leaned over. "What''s that?" She asked as more of the pictures formed.

"My soulmate." Lance replied before hurrying out of the kitchen to go to his room.

"What does that mean?" Pidge yelled after him.

Lance ignored her and just ran to his room. He didn't know why, but he wanted to be alone with the drawings. He had always been private about the connection, so it felt natural.

It didn't last long though. Shiro wanted them to train. Maybe his soulmate knew somehow that he had something to do, because the drawing stopped just as the message from Shiro came through the coms. Lance put on his paladin armor. He didn't have to, their training didn't require it today. He just wanted to keep the drawings to himself, even though he knew they would most likely be faded by the time training was over.

Lance wasn't the only paladin wearing armor though. Keith was too. Lance didn't think too much of it.

 

*********************

 

Keith always kicked himself for not keeping a pen on him. He hadn't thought about it until a few weeks after they got to the castle. He couldn't write to his soulmate. Whoever he was probably thought he had died or something. Then again, it's not like it mattered. He was in space! He'd probably never meet him anyway.

Then the team went to the space mall. Along with finding someone to ask about his blade, he managed to find a pen. Well, it wasn't exactly a pen like on Earth but he asked Coran about it and it was basically a pen. Just a space pen. He hoped it worked.

He thought for several days about what to do. He wanted to write every thought he had across his arm. But he didn't want to scare the poor guy. The two of them never talked like that. His soulmate had always been more timid with writings and drawings. He usually just added to whatever Keith drew.

Keith finally decided to just draw. It was what he always did. He drew a flower carefully across his forearm. He wanted it to look good.

He finished and put the pen safely away. Then he sat on his bed, planning to stare at his arm until his soulmate added a little bee or something. But Shiro came over the coms and reminded everyone of training. "Shit" He muttered. He put on his armor. He didn't want any of the other paladins questioning why he drew a flower on his arm.

During the entire training, he waited to feel the pressure that indicated his soulmate writing. The light etching of his skin, as if his soulmate was dragging his fingernail lightly across Keith's skin. But it never came. It distracted him the entire time and he was off his game, which Shiro had to point out several times. After the training was over, he stormed to his room and pulled off his armor, examining his arm. There was nothing new.

He didn't even know what time it would be for his soulmate. It could be three in the morning. Maybe he was just asleep and wouldn't see it until morning. or the drawing would fade before he woke up. Keith just had to draw something later.

Keith wondered how his soulmate was doing. He knew he was in the Garrison. He hoped he was doing well on his exams. He probably was. Keith remembered the long list of assignments down his arm one day. Keith had a bunch of assignments then too, but he used his right arm. It meant writing with his left hand, so some of the words were harder to read. But he didn't want to get in the way of his soulmate's assignment. His soulmate had tried to write good luck under the list, but he was worse with is left hand than Keith was.

Keith kept looking at his arm even after he knew the flower would be faded. Even though his soulmate hadn't added anything, he still smiled. It was nice seeing his arms filled again. His bare arms made him feel alone sometimes. Even though it was just him, he felt better knowing someone else might see it too.

 

*********************

 

It had been a few days since Lance's soulmate had drawn the flower. Lance had gone through several conflicting emotions since then. He was overjoyed that his soulmate was still there. Devastated he couldn't reply. Terrified of his soulmate thinking he didn't care or wasn't there. Desperate to find a way to write back. And impatient for the next drawing.

 

Back on Earth, his soulmate's favorite thing to draw was the sky. It was something Lance felt he shared with his soulmate. he would often wake up to see the night sky drawn across his forearm. He always knew his soulmate had had a late night when that happened. There was always details in the constellations. Even when the drawing was rushed or not as neat as usual, the stars were always carefully placed, sometimes with lines connecting it or the names written neatly underneath. Lance could always see the care in those drawings. Though he had never talked to his soulmate about the reasons behind the care, Lance always assumed it had to do with why they joined the Garrison. Staring up at the stars can only appease you for so long before you have to join them in the sky.

 

Lance decided it was time to stop lying around his room. He had to do  _something_ or he would go crazy. He left his room and headed towards the kitchen. There was usually someone in there. Maybe socializing would help him get his mind off everything.

 

He turned a corner and passed Keith. "Hey Lance," Keith said, not paying much attention. Keith was staring at the floor, his eyebrows knit in thought.

 

"Hey Keith," Lance replied simply. They went their separate ways without much thought. Usually at least one of them would throw out small insults or teases as they passed. Both of them were so lost in thought that neither noticed this.

 

Lance made it to the kitchen to see Hunk putting something in the oven. "Hey buddy," Hunk greeted him. "Haven't seen you in a few days."

 

Pidge, who was perched on the counter, looking up from what she was tinkering with to see who it was. "Hey Hunk, hey Pidge." Lance said, sitting down on the little table in the corner of the room. "Yeah, sorry for being so absent for the past couple days."

 

"It fine, no need to apologize. What's been going on?"

 

"Nothing," Lance said. "Don't worry about it."

 

"This is about your soulmate, isn't it?" Hunk asked.

 

"Pidge!" Lance groaned, throwing his head into his hands.

 

"What?" Pidge said defensively. "You ran out of the room claiming the weird shit on your arm was your soulmate. You didn't tell me not to tell anyone."

 

"Who did you tell?"

 

"Just Hunk. Geeze. Chill out."

 

"Pidge, be nice," Hunk interrupted. "This is really personal for Lance." He then walked over to the table and sat down across from Lance. "So something finally showed up?"

 

"Yeah. They drew the most beautiful flower." Lance said, his head still in his hands. He groaned.

 

"That's great. Why are you so upset?"

 

"Because," Lance said flatly.

 

"That's not an answer," Pidge said.

 

"I'm not upset," Lance said, looking up. "Well, I am. But I'm not. I'm happy. They're still out there, somewhere. But they have no way of knowing that I'm here too."

 

"How does the soulmate thing work anyway?" Pidge asked, setting down what she was working on to focus on the conversation.

 

"There are a lot of different myths out there about it. But as far as I know. Me and my soulmate are connected. More connected than others with their soulmates. I guess having a soulmate is already somewhat rare, but having a deep connection that links you two together is more rare. The soulmates who don't have this level of connection might never know they are soulmates. But this connection makes it so if one of us writes something on ourselves, whatever we wrote appears on the other. Basically anything that leaves a mark on my skin will work. Pens, markers, paints. Sharpie." He shot Hunk a dirty look when he said the last part.

 

"You need to stop holding that against me. I didn't know," Hunk said defensively.

 

"What did you do?" Pidge asked, in a tone equal parts accusatory and amused.

 

"It was a few weeks after we met at the Garrison and became friends," Hunk began. "We went to a party off campus and drank a little too much. Nothing dangerous, just couldn't walk really well. The apartment we were at let people spend the night if they needed to, so as people started passing out in various places, Lance and I decided to have some fun. We drew a few dicks on people's faces. After an hour after that, I had to help Lance home. When he passed out in his bed, I decided I should be rewarded for being such a nice friend and taking care of him. So I drew a dick on his face with Sharpie. I knew it would wash off really easily the next morning. I was drunk. It was also hilarious. This was before Lance told me about the soulmate bond. So his soulmate got a matching dick drawing." Pidge looked quite amused. "And Lance also didn't bother looking in a mirror before he went to the caf the next morning. But he wasn't the only one, there were a few others from the party."

 

Lance looked annoyed at this story. "You made me look like an idiot."

 

"But now you always look in a mirror before going to class," Hunk pointed out, "which saved you ass several times."

 

"Are you telling me Lance has had dicks drawn on his face more than once?" Pidge quipped. "Unsurprising."

 

"It wasn't always dicks," Lance said, meekly trying to defend himself.

 

"So who is your soulmate?" Pidge asked, deciding to end Lance's suffering.

 

"I don't know," Lance said, as if it should be obvious.

 

"What do you mean you don't know? You never, like, asked?"

 

"Well, no. We never really exchanged names. I'm not even sure if we could, honestly. Seems kind of like cheating. But I know they go to the Garrison. I don't even know the gender of my soulmate honestly. kind of the downside of being bisexual I guess. I can't even narrow down who's on the other end."

 

*********************

 

Keith tried to continue his usual training routine, but he was off his game. He couldn't stop thinking of his soulmate. Usually training helped him clear his mind. He was able to shut off his brain for a bit and focus on fighting or whatever the training was. But ever since he drew the flower, his head was just spinning thinking about everything.

 

He was fighting one of the training droid early in the morning. He was doing well until he felt a twitch in his arm. He looked down eagerly and his sword was knocked away. There was nothing on his arm. It was a normal muscle twitch, one he probably wouldn't have even noticed if he wasn't unknowingly trained to because it was usually meant a new message from his soulmate. A lot like when you feel a vibration in your pocked from your phone even when your phone isn't in your pocket.

 

He managed to refocus enough to get his sword back and attack the droid. But his mind started wandering, and he started talking out loud. His time alone in the desert had led to this habit. "I don't know why he hasn't said anything. I mean, I know he's shy. He has always been a little shy. But I thought we got past that." The droid tripped him and he rolled away to give himself a moment to regain his rooting. "Uhg. I know I haven't drawn anything in a while. But he could have!" Keith got hit several times and he had to retreat back a bit to avoid being taken down completely. "It's like when I got kicked out of the Garrison. I couldn't used some encouragement, but nothing. I always have to draw first. I mean, he will, but very rarely, and usually after I have the past few days."

 

He gained an upper hand over the droid. "Maybe I'm not being fair. It's not like he knows what I'm going through. But aren't soulmate supposed to sense that sort of thing?" The upper hand he gained was brief, he was knocked down again. "End training." He said. He held his breath for a moment, waiting for the droid to keep fighting. He knew that was only because of the Galra virus. The droid stopped and Keith sighed with relief. He decided to be done for the day, even if it meant cutting his usual morning training in a half.

 

"Maybe a walk around the castle will clear my head." He said. "Remember to stop talking to yourself." He headed for the door and started wandering aimlessly. The main debate running through his head was whether or not to draw something else. And if he decided to, when to do it. and what to do.

 

On the one hand, he liked seeing his own drawings, and it was always a calming thing. Plus if his soulmate was still receiving messages, he knew he would enjoy the drawings as well. On the other hand, he didn't want to get his hopes up waiting for a response, only to be disappointed. Okay, he had to admit, there were more pros than cons to drawing again. But that didn't mean he wasn't hesitant about it. Now it was a matter of figuring out what he should draw.

 

He was mainly staring at his feet while he walked the castle. But he passed the kitchen and look in, giving a friendly nod at Pidge, who had looked up at the sound of passing footsteps. As he turned the corner, he saw Lance. He said a hello in passing and he thought he got one back, but he quickly went back to his own thoughts.

 

Keith wanted to impress his soulmate, as usual. But this was different. He had grown comfortable with him before, and Keith had let his guard down with his drawings. As Keith thought this, he shook his head. It was silly of him. He didn't even know his soulmate. But he felt... comfortable. Comfortable with what? It's not even like he had a face or a name. He just had different handwriting on his arm. But now that he had been away and the different handwriting had vanished, he built up some of those walls again. He felt he needed to impress him again.

 

Keith found himself at the observation deck. There were several different places where one could sit and stare out at the great beyond, or at the foreign planet they had landed on. But this one was the grandest area. He couldn't remember if Allura had called it the observation deck, or if this group of paladins had dubbed it that. Either way, it was one of Keith's favorite places on the ship. Each paladin had their own favorite place. Somewhere that reminded them of home. For Keith, sitting in the observation deck reminded him of laying out in the desert staring at the stars.


	2. The Night Sky

After that day was done, Lance did his normal nightly routine and settled into bed. Despite his exhaustion, he did not fall asleep easily. He tossed and turned for an hour before giving up. His mind would not shut up, so he decided to focus on one thing. Sometimes that helped. The first thing that came to mind was, of course, the thing that had been crowding his brain for the past week: his soulmate. Lance started thinking back to before he was whisked away to space.

 

He remembered one day after his classes were done. He got back to his room and immediately took off his pants, as one does after a stressful day of school. He sat down at his desk to do some homework he had due soon. Something on his leg started tingling. He brushed what he thought was a spider or a hair off his leg and went back to his homework, but the feeling didn't go away. It wasn't the usual feeling he got on his arm when his soulmate was drawing, so he hadn't even considered it. But he looked down at his leg to see colors. The colors appearing spread and blended with new colors around it, swirling together like pools of water. Looks like his soulmate bought some new water colors. Lance couldn't make out exactly what his soulmate was painting at first. The colors were soft and delicate. Soon a flower started forming. A pink flower flowing out with bits of red and yellow and lilac fitting in perfectly. Lance was never great at art. He stared in awe as the artwork on his thighs was coming to life. He couldn't wrap his head around how a human could fit colors into this picture so perfectly. Or how it could look alive and moving and so beautiful. He was always thankful for this gift of connection with his soulmate, because he got to meet his soulmate in such a unique way.

 

The memory made Lance smile and helped him fall asleep for a short period of time. Of course, it didn't last long. He soon woke up after the short, restless sleep. It was still night and he groaned. He just wanted sleep.

 

He laid awake, staring at the dark ceiling, trying to focus his mind so he could turn it off. Or at the very least stop the repeating song in his head. This made him wonder what new music had come out since he had left Earth. Had any of his favorite artists dropped surprised albums? He quickly dug himself out of the homesick hole he was about to be buried in and instead thought about starting a band with the other paladins and who would play what instrument. He would obviously be the lead singer. Keith seemed like he's play the drums. Pidge and Hunk on guitar and bass. Shiro could probably do the keyboard. Maybe Allura could help with some backup vocals and any extra percussion they may need. Coran could be their hype man.

 

After another hour of planning various songs and outfit ideas as well as his brain getting very sidetracked, he could feel himself falling asleep. He felt a tingle on his arm. He brushed away whatever was causing the tingle and it stopped. For like two seconds before coming back. He brushed it away again, this time with more determination. When it didn't go away, he brought his arm close to his face. It was dark in the room, but his eyes had adjusted and he could vaguely see the arm. There was something black appearing steadily in a line on his arm. His sleep deprived brain took a second to figure out what it was, but when he realized it might be his soulmate he dove for the lights. Which might have been a mistake, as he was immediately blinded. After his eyes adjusted and the light stopped stabbing his brain, he looked down. Looked like his soulmate wasn't sleeping either.

 

********************

 

Keith finally decided what he would draw. He couldn't sleep that night, like most nights, and decided to visit the observation deck. Being in space was weird. On Earth, he could only see the stars at night. But here, as long as they weren't on a planet, he could sit and look at them all day if he wanted. He was worried when they first started staying in space for long periods of time that he would get sick of the stars, that they would stop being special, lose their place in his heart. But he quickly learned that was not true.

 

Being in space had messed up all the Paladins' sleep schedules. Their internal clocks could only do so much. Coran had to rig up a timer to turn off the lights and force them all to go to bed on a somewhat regular schedule. He had even locked them all in their rooms at night for about a month. At this point, if they couldn't sleep, it wasn't from the lack of time.

 

When Keith left his room to go to the observation deck, he had grabbed his pen on impulse. And as soon as he sat in front of the sea of stars, he knew he wanted to share it with someone. He spent about twenty minutes deciding how to capture this scene on his arm. He wished he had some paper to do physical planning and prepping, but he had to do it all in his head. Finally, he took a deep breathe and went to work.

 

Every time the castle moved to a different section of the stars, Keith pestered Coran to teach him the star names and constellations of the area. He loved the shared experience of staring at the stars and seeing more than what's there, and he wanted to know what people saw, what stories they created. Coran usually talked about whatever planet they were nearest to. Keith didn't understand how Coran knew so much about so many places, but he was glad he did.

 

Keith began with is favorite cluster of started he could see. The inhabitant of the nearby planet saw their gods in the cluster. Their gods were a family. Not of blood, but of choice. They found one another, opened their hearts and minds to each other, and their bond was stronger than any other. From the gods bond sprung the life of the planet. Each god contributed something different to create the planet and the creatures who inhabit it. The stories reminded Keith of the Greek Gods of Earth a little, though he liked that they were family by choice.

 

He continued drawing until his entire arm was filled. It took the better part of an hour, but he hadn't even realized it had been so long. He was carefully drawing one part, perfecting it as best he could before moving onto the next area. He thought of all the stories Coran had shared. He couldn't remember them all of them in full, but he enjoyed what he remembered.

 

By the time he finished, part of him didn't even care if his soulmate was on the other side watching. He loved the sky across his arm again. He didn't realize how much he missed drawing until now. The other part of him of course very much hoped his soulmate saw the drawing. He was proud of it. He sat there for a while after that. Admiring both the sky and his arm. He was content. Eventually, tiredness overwhelmed him and he walked sleepily back to his room to get a few hours of shut eye.

 

********************

 

Lance sat on his bed, watching the stars begin to form on his arm. He got the goofiest smile on his face. Of course they would draw the stars. He admired the detail of the drawing. It felt familiar. The feeling of being drawn on by his soulmate, the stars, everything. Lance watched happily.

 

He noticed something about halfway through the drawing. He laughed a little. His soulmate was not drawing an accurate star system. Lance had had to study the stars a lot at the Garrison. And his soulmate was usually pretty accurate. Maybe they decided to get creative?

 

This only appeased Lance for about ten minutes. It didn't make sense to him why his soulmate would be inconsistent. Sure, he hadn't heard from them for a while. But they had always been so careful and accurate with the stars. And why did these stars seem so familiar to him?

 

Then it hit him.

 

He had seen the stars recently. Like, earlier that day recently. Out of the observation deck window. The ship hadn't moved.

 

His heart started pounding. Without thinking, he stood up and ran. His brain was completely gone. Spinning in a million directions. He was doubting himself, thinking he made up this explanation, making up any excuse to avoid facing the truth. He wasn't even directing himself, his feet were able to carry him right where he needed to be.

 

He stopped as soon as he turned down the hallway that lead to the observation deck. He walked quietly towards the doorway. He had become adept at sneaking around, but he feared his beating heart gave him away.

 

He looked into the observation deck from the dark hallway. It took a nanosecond for his eyes to find the only one sitting inside.

 

He'd recognize that mullet anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is shorter! But I couldn't NOT end it here!  
> The next one will be longer to make up for it :)


	3. Lance's plan

Lance's brain had completely stopped. He tried to force start it, but he ended up thinking half sentences that, put together, barely counted as a thought. So instead, he just watched. He stood half in the doorway watching this boy delicately examine the stars before leaning down, his face stuck close to his artwork, and draw what he examined, occasionally having to push the hair out of his face. Lance then looked down at his own arm and watched the lines appear.

 

He kept watching until Keith appeared to have stopped drawing. Lance realized he had to make a decision. He knew what he wanted to do, what he should do.

 

He should walk in, unafraid. Go to Keith and say some cheesy line before revealing that they are soulmate. The two would embrace and Lance could be enveloped in the warmth he felt in every drawing. Then the two would live happily ever after.

 

Lance did not do this.

 

Lance turned and ran away.

 

He tried to tell his feet, he desperately begged his feet to turn them around and take all of him back to the observation deck. But his feet simply wouldn't cooperate. At least, that was his excuse. So he went along for the ride as he was taken away from his soulmate. He knew he couldn't just go back to his room. He would probably burn a hole in the door from pacing around. So instead, he went a few doors down and pounded on Hunk's door. When there was no answer, Lance told himself to wait a minute or two to knock again. So, naturally, after only 30 seconds, he pounded his fist on the door. He could hear Hunk making confused noises as he was awoken from his slumber.

 

Hunk opened the door and before he could even say anything, Lance walked in and started talking. "Can you believe it? Him? Of all people in the  _universe_ it's him?"

 

"What are you talking about, Lance?" Hunk asked, his sleepiness vanishing and was replaced with concern for his best friend. "Also-- are you happy or angry? I really can't tell. Give me some context here."

 

Lance sat on Hunks bed and threw himself backwards dramatically. "And how did I not realize it? Did I realize it? What does this mean?" He then sat up. "Oh my god he doesn't know."

 

Hunk grabbed Lance's upper arms and stared at him. "Lance, you need to tell me what you are talking about or I am going back to sleep."

 

"Keith." Lance said. A smile crept onto his face when he said it.

 

"What about Keith? Why are you smiling?" Hunk asked, letting go of Lance's arms.

 

"I figured out who my soulmate is." Lance held up his arm, proudly showcasing the stars. "The stars aren't from Earth's view, Hunk. They're from our view. From the castles view. Right now."

 

"Wait. So how do you know it's Keith then? Couldn't it be anyone on the ship?" Hunk asked. He wanted to make sure his best friend was falling for the right person.

 

"I went to the observation deck. I saw him. It's him Hunk. Keith is my soulmate."

 

"But I thought you said he didn't know."

 

Lance looked at his hands to avoid Hunk's gaze. "I didn't go into the observation deck. I sort of looked inside and saw him."

 

"So rather than going up to him and living happily ever after like you always describe to me, you ran away?" Hunk asked, sounding clearly annoyed.

 

"Yes." Lance sighed.

 

"Lance. I love you man, but you're a dumbass."

 

******************

 

It was a week after Keith drew the constellations. Keith was happy the group was finally doing something. Allura wanted to land a few planets over and do a mini meet and greet. This part of space wasn't terribly occupied by the Galra. Allura had explained why when they first got to this solar system, but Keith hadn't been paying too much attention. He knew his role in these diplomatic affairs. Stand in back, look tough to instill confidence in the locals, and leave the talking to Shiro, Allura, and Coran. The rules were pretty much the same for all the Paladins, but he felt it was especially pointed at him for a few small outbursts he had had during previous diplomatic missions.

 

The team was scheduled to meet in the control room in uniform after breakfast. Keith had grabbed something early in the morning and was taking his time getting ready. He had done a few push-ups and other small workouts in his room. He spent about ten minutes just admiring his arm.

 

He was also happy for official business because it meant they all had to have their armor on, so he didn't have to make up an excuse. He wasn't completely against the idea of the paladins seeing his artwork, but if he could avoid it, he would.

 

He was early to the meeting. Coran was the only one there, but Keith expected Shiro would arrive shortly. "Hello Keith!" Coran greeted him when he walked in.

 

"Hey Coran." He responded.

 

"Did you have a good sleep cycle?" Coran asked.

 

"Eh. It wasn't great. I ended up in the observation deck most of the night."

 

"Ah. Staring at the stars again."

 

"Yeah," Keith said, smiling a little.

 

Coran pat Keith's shoulder fondly. He was proud to see the paladins happy in the castle. Each Paladin had had some rough times since they arrived. Coran had tried to help them, but he could only do so much. Seeing Keith smile felt like a small victory for Coran, even if he had nothing to do with it.

 

Footsteps approached the doorway. Keith didn't turn. He expected Shiro or Allura. They were usually here before him. What surprised him was when Coran greeted the person with a "Morning Lance!"

 

Keith turned to see the usually late blue paladin walk in in uniform. "Hey Coran." He said, then turned to face Keith, making eye contract with him. "Hey Keith. Sleep well?"

 

Keith smirked, "Never. You?"

 

"Not a chance." Lance smiled. He walked over and plopped onto the little step Keith was standing on.

 

"You know there are perfectly good chairs right over there." Keith teased. 

 

"True," Lance said, leaning forward. "But then I wouldn't be close enough to you to do this." He hit Keith's leg. Not hard enough to hurt either of them, but enough to make a point. Keith kept looking straight ahead, but smiled. "So Coran. How long do you expect this meeting to last?"

 

"Oh not too long I imagine. It's just a quick meeting to introduce ourselves."

 

"So we might get a chance to explore the planet a bit?" Lance asked excitedly.

 

"Maybe! This planet is friendly enough."

 

"What do you say Keith? Want to explore this new planet with me?" Lance said.

 

"With you? You'd probably get us lost as soon as we left the group."

 

"I resent that statement!"

 

"Good." Keith said, then gave Lance a side glance with a little smile to make sure he knew he was kidding.

 

"Besides," Lance smirked. "It's hardly an adventure if you know where you're going."

 

"And what great adventures have you been on?" Keith asked.

 

"If I must prove myself, I shall recount a tale from my youth!" Lance said.

 

Keith stepped back and gestured to the floor in front of him. "The floor is yours. Recount away."

 

Lance lept up and began his over dramatic tale. Keith sat down where Lance had just been to watch the blue paladin's performance. He told a story about him and two of his brothers getting lost in the woods when his family went camping. Keith laughed along with the story, which made Lance smile. Keith admired the smile for a moment without even realizing he was. He forgot how fun Lance could be when the two of them weren't bickering or being over competitive. Even the bickering could be fun when they both were just joking around.

 

Keith enjoyed Lance's story, but it was unfortunately cut short when the team arrived. First Shiro, followed by Allura a few minute later, and finally Hunk carrying a tired Pidge. When Hunk set down Pidge, Shiro jumped into the usual rallying speech. Lance sat down next to Keith. As Allura began moving the castle, Keith leaned closer to Lance.

 

"I liked your story."

 

"Told ya." Lance smirked.

 

"But how did you three get out of the woods?" Keith asked, still interested in the story.

 

"That my friend, is a story for another time." Lance smiled, throwing his arm around Keith in a friendly way. Keith never realized how good Lance smiled. Lance pat his back and got up, walking over to Hunk and Pidge to talk with them.

 

******************

 

 Lance knew that over the noise of Allura, Coran, and Shiro talking, Keith wouldn't be able to hear his and Hunk's conversation. "Morning you two." Lance said.

 

Hunk's arms were crossed. "I thought I told you to get to know him, not put your arm around him. It's not fair Lance. You have to tell him."

 

"Tell him what?" Pidge asked, louder than Hunk and Lance were being.

 

"Quiet," Lance shushed hastily. "I don't want to talk about it."

 

"Tell me or I'll tell everyone you went to Hunk's room last night."

 

"Is that a threat? Hunk and I are best buds."

 

"You never know what a vague comment about two people in a room late at night will make people think."

 

"Fine," Lance groaned, though he was at least mildly pleased. He could use all the help he could get. "But first, you have to swear not to tell anyone."

 

"Okay, I swear." Pidge said with no hesitation.

 

Lance leaned closer to her, his voice growing more serious. "Pinky swear?" He said, thrusting his pinky forward.

 

She gave Hunk a look like 'is this guy serious' and Hunk shrugged. Pidge sighed. "Fine. Pinky promise." And begrudgingly hooked her pinky around Lance's.

 

"Keith is my soulmate. I saw him drawing the night sky and then saw it on my arm."

 

"Keith had a pen?" Pidge asked.

 

Lance looked annoyed. "I just revealed the answer to the question I have been asking since I was a child. And you're concerned about a pen."

 

"Yes," Pidge said, looking towards Keith. "I asked him forever ago if he did and he said no. That bitch lied to me."

 

"Well you can't confront him about it." Hunk said.

 

"Why not?"

 

"Lance hasn't told him. Keith had no idea they are soulmates, let alone that you and I know before him." Hunk explained.

 

"Why haven't you told him?" Pidge asked.

 

"I haven't had the right opportunity?" Lance suggested as an excuse. "I just wish I could figure out how he feels about all this soulmate stuff, ya know?"

 

"You could ask him," Pidge said, which Lance promptly ignored.

 

Instead, he hit Hunk's arm. "Ow! What the hell Lance!"

 

"I have an idea!" Lance said. "I told you about the soulmate stuff one of the first time we did facemasks and wine night." Pidge opened her mouth to ask what that was, but rolled her eyes instead. "We haven't done one in a while. I could host one for the three of us and just, ya know, casually invite Keith."

 

"Or you could just tell him." Pidge muttered.

 

"But we don't have face masks. Or wine. I doubt your fake would work on this planet." Hunk said.

 

"Wine isn't important. We didn't have wine half the time. Besides, 3 in the morning during a sleepover has the same secret-spilling properties as wine. And of course I have face masks. Come on, Hunk, who do you think I am."

 

"Someone who won't just communicate with his soulmate." Pidge said, more for herself than for Lance.

 

Lance decided it was easier to ignore the comments than try to fight Pidge. "So, are you in, Hunk?"

 

"Do I ever have a choice when it comes to one of your schemes?" Hunk joked, then agreed to helping Lance out.

 

"Pidge. You in?"

 

"Of course," She said happily. "I always want a front row seat to your disasters."

 

"Glad for the support." Lance said, patting her on the shoulder.

 

"Paladins," Allura announced. "We have landed. Stick to the plan and everything will go smoothly. That means you Pidge."

 

"What did I do?" Pidge asked.

 

"Play nice. You and Keith have caused us issues in the past." Allura said sternly. Lance could tell she was worried about this meeting. It was supposed to be easy, but Allura was still learning, just like the rest of them.

 

That received grumbling agreements from the two that were called out. The group headed for the door. Shiro walked a little slower and dropped back by Pidge, apologizing for Allura's comment, before heading back to the front with the other grown-ups.

 

Lance started walking by Hunk, but drifted over to Keith. "Haha, you got in trouble." He teased.

 

"Shut up," Keith said, smiling and pushing Lance a little. "Allura looks stressed."

 

"As usual." Lance said. "Speaking of stress, Hunk, Pidge, and I were going to go a little de-stress night tonight if you wanted in."

 

Keith looked a little surprised at the invite. "What is this de-stress night going to involve?"

 

"Hunk and I used to do face mask and wine night. We don't have wine, but face masks and good company should suffice." Lance said. He hoped he sounded a lot more laid back than he felt. His heart was pounding  
  


 

Keith thought for a moment about whether to accept. While Keith thought, Lance grew more and more nervous. He wondered if Keith somehow knew this was a not-well-thought-out plot. Luckily, Keith smiled, "Sure. Sounds fun."

 

"Awesome! Come to my room about an hour after dinner, alright?" Lance said.


	4. Space Cupcakes

Keith was a little disappointed he and Lance didn't get a chance to goof off on this planet. He didn't know if Lance had been joking about exploring the planet together, but Keith hoped he wasn't. Unfortunately, Allura and Shiro had shooed them onto the ship once the meeting was done. Allura claimed it was to make sure no one ruined the peace they made. Shiro rephrased that sentiment in a much nicer way. The two of them along with Coran had returned to the locals to feast with their ruler. The four paladins left on the ship were a little annoyed they hadn't been invited.

 

Lance was quick to change the mood. "You know what this means!" He announced once the four were alone, throwing his arm over Pidge, who was next to him. "It's time to party!"

 

"What makes it a party? Aren't we doing exactly what we would be if Shiro, Allura, and Coran were here?" Keith pointed out.

 

"We can make a huge mess in the kitchen making a bunch of cupcakes. And hangout in the lounge area instead of in my room. Gives us more space." Lance said, clearly trying to be as positive as possible.

 

"We could have dessert before dinner," Pidge said, mocking Lance's excited voice.

 

"That's the idea Pidge! The wrong tone, but the right idea!" Lance said.

 

"Cupcakes sound good." Hunk added sheepishly.

 

"Cupcakes it is!" Lance announced, then thrust his finger into the air. "To the kitchen!"

 

Keith was watching this entire interaction, chuckling. He happily followed Lance's lead into the kitchen along with Hunk, who dragged Pidge along. Once they arrived in the kitchen, Lance looked at him. Keith's heart froze for a moment.  _God his eyes are blue_ , he thought. "Keith, what shall it be. Chocolate or vanilla?"

 

"What?" Keith said, his mind a few steps behind the conversation as Lance looked at him.

 

"Chocolate or vanilla." He repeated, adding, "cupcakes."

 

"Oh. Um. Chocolate, duh." Keith said, trying to play it cool.

 

"A man after my own heart." Lance said, then turned to Hunk. "Hunk, what do we have in the way of chocolate cupcake ingredients?"

 

"We should have everything," Hunk said, looking through the shelf of ingredients.

 

"Alright. Hunk, you have the floor. Instruct away. We are here to help." Lance said, before jumping up and sitting on the counter.  _Graceful_ Keith thought. Lance looked over at him and he worried he had just said that outloud in the same wistful tone he had thought it in. "At least I am. Keith seems to be a little spaced today." Lance laughed at his own joke.

 

"Well I did just entertain about 30 of the Emperor's daughters." Keith said in defense. That got a snicker from the other three in the room. "What?" Keith demanded, clearly not hearing what he accidently implied.

 

"How did you entertain them all?" Pidge asked, trying to hide his giggling.

 

"Shit," Keith said, finally catching up on his phrasing.

 

"Kinky," Lance laughed.

 

"Stop!" Keith said, burying his face in his his hands.

 

"Aw, Keith, you're starting to look like your lion!" Lance teased, only making Keith's face redder. Keith wondered how bad it would look if he ran to his room. Before he could come to a conclusion, Lance put a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, I'm just teasing. Plus, you're the only one that joke works with without being in serious danger. I'd hope if I looked like my lion, someone would help me." This helped lessen the red in Keith's face, but Lance's lingering hand kept some there.

 

"I feel like Pidge turning green wouldn't be life-threatening, necessarily." Hunk said. He had already started mixing the ingredients.

 

"I see your point Hunk." Lance said.

 

"Hey Keith. Wanna give me a hand?" Hunk asked.

 

Keith was a little surprised Hunk asked him instead of Lance or Pidge. But he went over and stirred the mix at Hunk's instruction. Soon, Hunk told him to stir a different bowl of ingredients as he poured the cupcakes. "Now, this isn't exactly a cupcake pan. It's the closest thing I've been able to find. So the cupcakes might be more ball like."

 

"Cupballs?" Lance suggested, before realizing his mistake. "Wait no."

 

Hunk put the pan in the oven. "Those will take about half an hour. Keith, stir that until it's about the consistency of frosting. Add in more of the white powder if it's too liquidy. Pidge, help him out. Lance, why don't we set up the lounge with pillows and stuff for when the cupcakes are done?"

 

Lance nodded and jumped off the counter, following Hunk out of the room. Keith watches.

 

"Enjoying the view?" Pidge said from the table.

 

"What? No, I was, um, no, I mean. I was. What?" Keith stammered, looking down at the bowl and stirring it faster than necessary.

 

"Chill, dude. Lance does have a nice butt." Pidge said.

 

Keith raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you were ace."

 

"First off, that doesn't mean I can't know what a good butt looks like. And second, those aren't my words."

 

"Whose words are they?" Keith asked, trying and failing to sound disinterested. The idea of someone else calling Lance's butt nice didn't sit well with him. He told himself it was because he was a good teammate.

 

"Look who's jealous." Pidge said, not even trying to conceal her delight.

 

"Not that it matters." Keith muttered. He thought about the drawing under his armor. It was probably pretty faded at this point, which was good, considering he didn't think they'd all stick in their armor for very long. Maybe he's put on his jacket or something.

 

*******************

 

Hunk stopped before they reached the lounge, far enough from the kitchen that they wouldn't be overheard. "So what exactly is your plan here, Lance?"

 

"Do I need a plan?" Lance asked, continuing to walk. He did not want to be in this conversation.

 

"Yes." Hunk sighed. "At the very least, a half made plan."

 

"Perfect. I have a half made plan! We all hang out and spill out deepest secrets and have lots of bonding moments as a team. In that time, if Keith happens to tell all of his thoughts and feelings about soulmates, then do be it." Lance said. He stopped by the Space Linen Closet- the team had fun naming different rooms in the castle and some of them were pretty straight forward- and grabbed the extra pillows and blankets.

 

"So you want Keith to reveal his deepest secrets, but you can't even reveal the secret you are keeping from specifically him?" Hunk also grabs a few blankets.

 

"Well we haven't had a super fun sleepover, so I haven't had a chance." Lance said sternly. They arrived in the lounge and just piled the fluffy collection in the center of the room. 

 

Hunk sighed, defeated. "I'm going to change out of my armor and head back to the kitchen."

 

Lance nodded. Hunk left and Lance was alone. He picked up a pillow and fluffed it a bit before throwing it lazily back onto the pile. He felt bad about not telling Keith. But he was just afraid of what would happen if he told him. Now he was doubting his decision.  _It's fine_ he thought  _if you aren't alone with Keith, then you don't have to decide anything_.

 

Just then, Lance thought he heard someone walk in and his heart jumped to his throat.

 

Turns out it was just Hunk walking by.

 

Lance decided he would also like to get out of his paladin armor. So he headed towards his room and changed. He took off the armor and looked down at his arm. He audibly sighed with relief. The artwork was now gone off his arm, probably due to him and Keith sweating all day in their armor. The relief of not having to cover it up was followed by a little bit of sadness that it was gone. He didn't know when Keith would draw again.

 

Lance put on his PJs and grabbed his jacket as well. Even if his ink was gone, Keith's might not be. Lance always had an inkling that the drawer's artwork lasted longer. Keith might need something to cover his arm.

 

It didn't take long for Lance to rejoin the group in the kitchen. Keith was done mixing the frosting and he was watching over Pidge's shoulder as she tampered with some box of wires. "Okay, Pidge did not have that when I left. Do you keep electronics stashed around the castle or something?" Lance asked, joining the group at the table.

 

"I forgot I was working on this. Found it under the table."

 

Lance didn't even want to ask what it was doing under there.

 

Keith looked over to see him in his PJs. "Is it suddenly a pajama party?" Keith asked.

 

Lance turned to see Hunk in his PJs as well. "Of course!" Lance said without hesitation. "A facemask and wine night is never complete without PJs."

 

"Can you really call it that? There's no wine." Keith pointed out.

 

"Fine. Face-mask and cupcake night." Lance said, shaking off his jacket and throwing it onto the chair next to Keith. "So will you join team PJ?" Keith looked slightly confused, so Lance rephrased. "I mean will you join Hunk and I and put on your pajamas."

 

"Oh." Keith said. "I guess." He sounded hesitant. He looked to the jacket on the chair next to him. "But I'm taking this." He stood and scooped up the jacket.

 

"What, why?" Lance said, trying to sound confused and annoyed.

 

"It's too cold in here. My pajamas are short sleeved. I want a jacket, and yours is right here. Plus it's cute to watch you get annoyed." Keith walked out.

 

Hunk joined the table as Lance leaned forward and whispered loudly. "Did Keith just call me cute!"

 

"I believe he said you were cute when you were annoyed." Pidge said.

 

"I'll take it." Lance smiled.

 

******************

 

Keith grabbed Lance's jacket on a whim. When he got to his room, he yanked off his armor and looked at his arm. As he guessed, his space drawing still covered his arm, though it was starting to get rubbed off.

 

He looked at clothes casually thrown onto his bed. He didn't exactly have pajamas. He really just had a t-shirt he threw on sometimes when he was cold. He shrugged and put that on along with some shorts. He then pulled on Lance's jacket. It was warm.

 

Keith went back to the kitchen as Hunk was taking out the cupcakes.  Lance was already making a beeline for them, only to be shooed away by Hunk. "You have to let them cool so I can put the frosting on."

 

"Can't I just have one?" Lance pleaded.

 

"No." Hunk said.

 

Keith decided to sit on the counter instead of the table this time. Once he jumped up and settled on his perch, Lance looked over. "Those aren't real PJs."

 

"What do you mean these aren't real PJs?" Keith said, scrunching up his face at the insult.

 

"You're just wearing a t-shirt and shorts!" Lance laughed.

 

"Well usually I just wear boxers, and sometimes a t-shirt. Thought I should cover up a little bit more than that."

 

"Fair enough," Lance shrugged. He then walked towards Keith, whose heart suddenly decided to beat twice as fast. Lance just leaned against the counter near Keith. "Pidge went to get changed. But knowing Pidge, we won't see her for an hour. She'll find something to distract herself."

 

Keith watched Hunk as an expertly spread the frosting on the cupcakes. He remembered making cupcakes with his dad when he was younger. They were both always bad at getting the frosting on the cupcakes. Every time it just ended up as a pile of frosting, usually much more than needed, plopped precariously on top.

 

Hunk came over to them holding two cupcakes which brought Keith back to reality and off of memory lane. He looked over to see Lance looking at him, Lance quickly looked away when Keith looked over.

 

Hunk handed each of them a cupcake. "One Space Cupcake, chocolate with vanilla frosting. Enjoy."

 

Keith tore the cupcake in half horizontally. He too the bottom half and smushed it onto the top half, sandwiching the frosting between the bits of cupcake Lance watched him with a disgusted look on his face. "What?" Keith asked defensively.

 

"What yourself!" Lance said. "What are you doing to that poor cupcake!"

 

"It is by far the best way to eat a cupcake."

 

Lance skeptically looked at Keith cupcake, then replicated what Keith had done. Keith was already several bites in as Lance took the first bite of this new cupcake. Keith laughed at the scrunched up face Lance made during the entire process. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for Lance's opinion. "This is the weirdest way to eat a cupcake." He pushed the cupcake into Keith's hand and walked over t get a different one. "No, the best way to eat a cupcake is how I eat a cupcake. You lick about half the frosting off first, so it doesn't get all over your mouth." Lance demonstrated. "Then you eat the damn cupcake." He did so, finishing in a few bites.

 

Keith rolled his eyes.

 

Hunk piled the cupcakes on a plate and looked to the two other paladins. "I'm going to start making dinner and snacks for tonight. Any requests?" Both Lance and Keith shrugged. They'd found out quickly upon arriving that it's most delicious to let Hunk make what Hunk wants to make. Keith could practically see the gears in Hunk's head start turning as he imagined what food to make. "If you two want to go to the lounge and chill, I will bring food out."

 

Lance hastily responded. "No. Nah, we're good. We'll chill here. Tonight's about everyone hanging out. We don't want to leave you in the kitchen by yourself."

 

"Pidge'll be back soon. She'll keep me company." Hunk said.

 

"Don't be ridiculous Hunk," Lance said, trying to play if off as a joke. "It's not a problem for us to hang out here. Right, Keith?"

 

"Yeah, I don't mind," Keith shrugged, oblivious to the glares being exchanged by Hunk and Lance as they silently argued.

 

Lance happily jumped up onto the counter beside Keith.


	5. Space Pirates

The gang ate dinner when Hunk had finished it. As predicted, Pidge wandered back in after much longer than necessary for changing into PJs. After a few hours spent in the kitchen, they finally moved to the lounge. Hunk was carrying some of the snacks he made and Keith was helping with the rest.

 

As soon as they walked into the lounge, Lance launched himself at the pile of pillows and blankets in the middle of the room. "Nice set up," Pidge commented, flopping onto one of the couches.

 

Keith and Hunk found a place to set down the food. "Okay, well we at least got some pillows and such," Lance tried to defend himself.

 

"Can we get some of those pillows and such?" Keith asked, walking over to grab something from the pile.

 

Lance spread himself out to try and keep all of the blankets to himself. "You can try." Lance challenged. Keith laced his fingers together and stretched his arms forward, more for show than anything, cracking a few fingers, then tried to yank a blanket out from under him. When the blanket started moving towards Keith, Lance grabbed it and tried to pull it back into the pile. Keith lost his footing and came toppling down onto Lance.

 

Lance stopped breathing as Keith fell on top of him. Keith was laughing, and Lance was smiling. Keith rolled off the pile and stood up with a little jump. He then held out a hand to help Lance up. Lance took the hand and Keith pulled him off the pile, "Looks like I knocked the wind out of ya."

 

"Yeah," Lance laughed breathlessly. His face was warm and he knew he was blushing a bit.

 

"So what's the plan?" Hunk asked, trying to sound casual.

 

"There isn't really one. Just relax and chat a bit." Lance said, sitting on the ouch. Keith had successfully acquired a blanket and sat on the same couch as Lance, despite there being several options of couches and chairs.

 

"What should we talk about?" Keith asked.

 

"Space pirates." Pidge said without hesitation.

 

"What? Why?" Lance said slowly. "What about space pirates?"

 

She shrugged again. "I got us this far, someone else figure out the rest."

 

Hunk rolled his eyes, "Pidge that is ridiculous."

 

"Remember when Coran made us dress up as space pirates?" Keith asked, more in a memory way than an actual question.

 

Everyone nodded and made various noises of agreement. "That was so weird," Hunk laughed. "Did Coran ever change?"

 

"I don't think so," Lance chuckled.

 

"Lance did you and Pidge ever find a way to hook up the game machine? Keith asked sincerely. Lance found it endearing, at least he was trying.

 

"Game machine?" Pidge scoffed.

 

"Whatever," Keith said.

 

"Not yet," Lance interjected. "But we are very close. I'm just hoping Pidge doesn't fry the machine before we can find the last few converters. The set up isn't pretty, but it'll do the job."

 

"Keith what did you do at the mall? We all sort of went our own ways."

 

"Ya know. Wandered around. Talked to a knife salesman. Visited a few shops. Got very confused at the bathroom signs." Keith said.

 

"Of course you went to a knife salesman." Pidge laughed. She had a unique laugh. More of a know it all sort of joyful laugh. Really, if Lance thought about it, she had three different laughs. Her snort-laugh that indicated she was amused by someone else's stupidity or predictability. It is her most common laugh and the one she used now. Her second laugh is her tired-hysteria laugh. It is also pretty common. Whenever she has stayed up too late or gotten up too early to work on a project, she is in danger of falling into the state of mind that makes her laugh at everything. The kind of space out laughing that you can't control. Her final laugh is rare. It's the genuine actually-found-that-funny laugh. Hunk has the easiest time getting her to reveal her true laugh. Lance was always a little envious of this, but he pushed it down because he loved them both.

 

"What's wrong with that!" Keith said defensively. Lance knew while he sounded offended, he was also genuinely asking. Keith was not great at picking up on social cues or tones of voice. He was naive about the real world. Probably from living in the desert. Lance had figured this out quickly and tried to help him out subtly. The rest of the team kind of did this as well, probably just out of habit for Coran and Allura who didn't always understand Earth culture. Maybe Lance would give them all lessons some day.

 

"Nothing," Pidge said. "It's just so you." She was working on a metal box that sat in her lap. Lance wasn't even sure where she got it. She was always tinkering with something. Lance thought it probably helped her with focusing on the conversation. It gives her something to do with her hands and focuses her mind a bit more, otherwise she is thinking of a million things at once.

 

"She is right," Hunk said, laughing. He his his mouth behind his hand. Hunk's laughs were more noticeable through his body than the noise of his laugh. His shoulders shake and if he laughs hard enough, he doubles over. Lance quickly found that out after meeting him at the Garrison. He was easy to make laugh. It was one of the things that drew Lance to him in the first place. Also his loving nature. Hunk had more love to give than almost anyone he had ever met, love rivaling his own mother. The group always joked that Shiro was the dad and Allura was the mom, but Lance always thought of Hunk as the mom of the group. Nothing against Allura, but Hunk was the one to bring him soup and cookies after he was out of the healing pod even though he wasn't even sick. "And how did you even choose which bathroom to go in? By the time I found you, you were leaving the bathroom."

 

"I just sort of picked one. Decided I needed to pee bad enough that I didn't care." Keith said. "I'm surprised Pidge didn't do that that. She told me she just held it when she couldn't figure it out."

 

Pidge shrugged and tried to play it off as nothing, but then said. "I've been yelled at enough in bathrooms. I didn't want to deal with that in space."

 

Everyone sensed that they should move the conversation along. Hunk got to it first. "Lance whatever happened to the cow you bought?"

 

"Allura wanted me to get rid of it. So I hid it in the basement. Well, not the basement exactly, but one of the lower levels. I gave her a bunch of food and water and I check on her every few days. So Hunk, if you ever need fresh milk." Lance said.

 

Keith gave him a weird look. "Ya know cows don't just constantly produce milk, right."

 

"What do you mean?" Lance said. This time he was the confused one.

 

"They only produce milk after they've given birth, like humans." Keith said, as if it should be common knowledge.

 

"Well not all of us grew up on a farm." Lance said, trying to make it sound as much like an insult as he could.

 

"That's not even something you have to be on a farm to learn. Do you ever even think about where your food comes from?" Keith said back just as aggressively.

 

"No." Lance said, keeping the aggressive, argumentative tone in his voice. "My food comes from Hunk, and I trust him."

 

Keith rolled his eyes and slumped back. Lance had barely even noticed they both were sat upright, glaring at each other. "Fair enough." This caught Lance off guard. He was expecting more of a fight from Keith. Everyone else seemed to get over it quickly and moved the conversation along. The corner of Lance's mouth twitched up into a smile and his insides warmed. He wasn't sure why, and he decided to ignore any rationality and just enjoy it.

 

********************

 

The night continued. Everyone steadily ate most of the food. The conversation flowed from one topic to another, sometimes in such a way that no one was quite sure how they got to a topic, but they just rolled with it. Keith was enjoying spending time with his fellow paladins. He found out that Hunk learned cooking from him two moms. Pidge used to get in trouble in school for stealing things from the science lab, though the never caught her in the act so they couldn't do anything more than issue stern warnings against snooping around. Lance once got stuck on a boat for almost 8 hours. He claims to have survived on his own skill, but Hunk heard from Lance's mom that there was a cooler with food and waters on the boat and Lance had gotten trapped there because he dropped his oar into the water and refused to jump in to get it.

 

Pidge continued to work on the project that sat in her lap, but steadily withdrew from the conversation. It was subtle at first, but after a while it was obvious to even Keith she was in her own world now. Hunk finally stood up with a grunt of effort that faded into a sign. It reminded Keith of his dad getting up to go to bed. "Okay, I'm calling it. Pidge needs to go to sleep."

 

He moved over to Pidge who looked over sleepily and yawned. "No," Lance said, a hint of desperation in his voice. Keith wasn't sure if he imagined that desperation. "Come on! We're just getting started!"

 

"Lance," Hunk said sternly. Lance and Hunk maintained eye contact, seeming to have an entire conversation with just their eyes. Keith did not speak fluent eye, so he was lost. "Pidge and I are going to bed. You two can stay up if you want."

 

Before Lance could protest, Hunk scooped up Pidge into his arms and left. Hunk was the only one Pidge willingly let carry her at any time. Lance had given her a piggyback ride a few times, but that was only after Pidge specifically said it was okay. Shiro had also been known to carry Pidge when she got tired of walking.

 

Keith grabbed another blanket and piled it in top of himself. "Well I'm still wide awake if you wanted to stay out here." Keith said. Lance nodded, but didn't say anything. There was a roughly 5 minute long stretch of silence they both sat in awkwardly. Keith decided to do something about it. He took off his sock and slowly stuck his foot out from under the blanket and onto Lance's arm.

 

Lance jumped back at the sudden ice cold foot on his arm. "What the hell Keith! How is your foot so cold! You're under like six blankets!"

 

Keith laughed. "My feet are always cold."

 

"Aren't you supposed to be the lava paladin or whatever! Your feet should not be this cold! See a doctor!" Lance squealed, throwing blankets between them, trying to smother Keith's foot.

 

They both started laughing and Keith threw a pillow gently at Lance. "At least I didn't get tricked and tied to a tree." Keith said.

 

"Hey, that's an entirely different situation! There is no need to bring that up!" Lance aid.

 

"But it was so funny."

 

"You left me there for like an hour!"

 

The two were laughing at their memory, their laughs fueled mostly by the lateness of the night. In the midst of their laughter, they didn't notice Shiro, Allura, and Coran walk in. "You two are up late," Allura sad, which got their attention.

 

Keith was first to reply, as he got his laughter under control while Lance continued to giggle. "Yeah. Lance suggested a de-stress night. Hunk and Pidge already went to bed, so it's just us two left."

 

"What a nice idea," Allura said. Keith could see how tired she was.

 

Coran saw it too and put a hand on Allura's shoulder, "Princess, maybe you should get some rest. You've had  along day." Allura nodded and waved to the paladins as she yawned. Coran followed her. He must be tired too, he was just better at hiding it.

 

Shiro gave Allura and Coran a little wave and then sat on the couch opposite of the boys. "Mind if I join you two?"

 

"Not at all," Lance said, having finally gotten his giggling under control. He was still beaming, and Keith couldn't help but watch his face. Lance smiled a lot, but Keith had started to learn the difference between Lance's fake smiles, his 'just told a bad joke' smile, and his genuinely happy smile. He had some other variations in those smiles, but those were his most common ones.

 

"How was the fancy feast?" Keith asked.

 

"It was not that fancy honestly. The emperor spent most of the time flirting with Allura and Coran. Which was somewhat entertaining. But Coran told me not to eat the food, since he was pretty sure it was poisonous to humans, so I didn't get any food."

 

"Well Hunk made a bunch of snacks, I think there are some left." Keith said.

 

"Awesome," Shiro said, practically pouncing on the food.

 

Keith looked over at Lance, who was already looking at Keith. They locked eyes and just smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I apologize it took so long to update, school got in the way! I also wrote this chapter before the newest season, but I liked the Kaltenecker jokes, so I didn't change it.


	6. Phenomenon of the star dust

Lance's heart was racing as him and Keith stared at each other. Keith had the goofiest smile on his face, probably from tiredness. Lance was conflicted about whether he was happy about Shiro being here. He didn't want to be alone with Keith because he still didn't know what to do about the whole soulmate thing, but he liked spending time with Keith.

 

"So what have you boys been talking about?" Shiro asked once he grabbed the rest of the food.

 

"I found out Lance used to make Hunk sneak out of the Garrison."

 

"I'm not surprised. I did that some too."

 

Lance's mouth dropped open. " _Shiro_ used to sneak out. Mr. Can-Do-No-Wrong used to sneak out."

 

Shiro shrugged and Lance looked to Keith to see if he was as shocked at this as Lance was. Keith was. "What did you do when you snuck out?"

 

"Honestly, not much. It started with sneaking out with some of the other guys at the Garrison Just go into town and such. But eventually it turned into pranks around the Garrison."

 

"Pranks!" Keith nearly screeched. "What the hell Shiro." Both Lance and Keith were leaned forward. They both wanted to know more about the mysterious prankster Shiro.

 

"It started with moving everything in the drill sergeant's office a couple inches to the left."

 

Lance leaned back with a huff, crossing his arms, "That's kind of lame. What does that even do?"

 

"She ran into everything in her office for a month. It was pretty much just a petty annoyance. As I said, that's just where it started. I also convinced Matt to hack into the Garrison's computers. We changed the cafeteria's food order and added a bunch of zeroes to the end of the order for chocolate cake ingredients. So that caf served chocolate cake every day for three weeks straight. And chocolate cake was the best dessert they made." Shiro said.

 

"So you didn't play any actual pranks," Keith said.

 

"I did!" Shiro said defensively.

 

"A prank would be covering Iverson's office with wrapping paper and leaving him a Christmas card." Lance said.

 

"That's a good one," Keith said. "Do you think we could do that to Pidge or something?"

 

"If she's anything like her older brother, you do not want to poke the bear. Matt used to plot planks for months at a tie. He once spent a week crawling through the air vents at the Garrison to map out his route into various offices." Shiro said, laughing to himself.

 

"What kind of stuff did he even do?" Lance asked, engaged again.

 

"I honestly don't even know. I was kind of afraid to ask for the details. But I have my suspicions he was behind the unauthorized field trip of the freshman. Someone managed to steal a freshman class from a basic field training class. They hijacked a bus and were gone for an entire day. The instructors didn't even know they were gone until they got back."

 

"I heard about that!" Lance said. "I didn't even know if it was true. Everyone just said it was a rumor. That's amazing!"

 

"Yeah. I asked Matt about it, but he would always just shrug and say 'do you really think I'm smart enough to pull that off?' with the most cocky smiled I've ever seen. My reply was usually a yes, I do."

 

"Keith we should prank Pidge to see what she does." Lance smiled, looking at Keith.

 

"My brain tells me that is a terrible plan, but we should definitely talk and come up with something good." Keith agreed.

 

Shiro stood up, "That is my cue to go to bed. I will not be involved in your shenanigans against Pidge. However, you want to get Allura or Coran, I am all in."

 

"Okay, Grandpa. If we want to move Coran's bed two centimeters to the left, we will give you a call." Keith said. Lance let out an astonished laugh.

 

"Oh my god. You just got burned by Keith. That's rare." Lance cakcled.

 

"Fair enough. I was thinking more along the lines of covering the hallway in cups of water. But good luck against Pidge." Shiro said, turning on his heels and heading towards his bedroom with the last of the food in hand.

 

"What would cups of water even do? That doesn't sound like much of a prank." Lance thought outloud

 

"Well if you do it right, the person you prank has to pick up every single cup of water or spill it all over the hallway." Keith explained.

 

"You're so smart, Keith," Lance said without thinking. He glanced at Keith who's cheeks were turning steadily redder at the unexpected compliment.

 

*******************

 

The night continued as Kieth and Lance talked. Most of their conversations were about what had happened since they had gotten to space, since it was something they could both talk about. Every so often, Lance would launch into a story from his past. Lance always got very into his own stories and was very animated when he told them.

 

Keith had been at least mostly coherent the entire night, but he suddenly hit the wall of exhaustion. This caused him to yawn the biggest yawn he had ever yawned. Lance looked amused. "Someone's getting tired. Do you need to call it a night?"

 

After he recovered from the yawn, he shook his head, "Nah. I'm fine." Keith could've been wrong, but Lance seemed very please he was staying.

 

"So I have told you a lot of stories from when I was younger. What about you? Any cute baby-Keith stories?" Lance asked.

 

Keith shrugged, "Not really. I didn't do much as a kid honestly." He paused. The only thing that came to his mind to talk about was the phenomenon of star dust. He was secretive about most stuff in his life, this especially, but he trusted Lance. "There is one thing. It's not really a story, just something... odd I guess." Keith was staring at his lap, nervously wringing his hands.

 

Lance reached out and put his hand on top of Keith's hands. "You can tell me anything." Keith looked up and Lance held his gaze for a moment before Lance moved his hand away.

 

"It's just a... story my dad used to tell me. I think about it a lot. When he was teaching me about the stars and we were lying out on our front yard, he would point to a star and say how we all came from stardust. The Earth was made by a bunch of space stuff that just got pulled together. Most of the time, the space dust would stay by itself, and eventually that space stuff turns into people." Keith paused a laughed. It was the type of laugh that was small and personal, the type that happened almost exclusively when someone reminisce about the past. "My dad wasn't great with words. But sometimes, that little collection of space dust that was meant to be a person would get split and form two people. Like twins of the stars. And when that space stuff turned into people, it would always be drifting back towards each other. It was made for each other."

 

"Like soulmates?" Lance asked.

 

Yeah." Keith seemed almost caught off guard that Lance understood what he meant. "That was his was of explaining soulmates. And there was an old myth I guess. That some of this space dust was so close that it would reach out and connect the soulmates."

 

"How would it connect them?"

 

"One person could mark themselves and it would appear on the other person."

 

"So if I drew on myself, it could appear on someone else?" Lance said, he sounded as if he didn't believe if and Keith's heart sank a touch.

 

"Yes. Well, that's the idea anyway. Any it's only if you are soulmates with someone. It's not a common occurrence. But, you'd know if you had a soulmate."

 

"Because they're bound to write on themselves at some point." Lance said in a light hearted tone.

 

"Not just that. I mean, you would. But you can feel it. You can just tell that you have a soulmate. You have this pull of your space dust to the other person's." As Keith said this, he put his hand on his chest and pushed it toward Lance, showing the pull from one soulmate to another

 

"Keith." Lance said. He opened his mouth to continue, but seemed to second guess himself. "That's really cool."

 

Keith smiled, "Yeah. I always enjoyed those stories."

 

"Do you think they're true?"

 

Keith didn't answer right away. He knew the stories were true. "Yes." A part of him had hoped that maybe telling Lance would make him feel closer to his teammate or make him feel like he was hiding less about himself. But he realized he didn't actually tell Lance he had a soulmate. He hoped Lance would figure it out. Maybe that Lance could even relate to it. But he was wrong. "You know what, I am really tired. I am going to go hit the hay."

 

"Okay," Lance said quietly.

 

"It was really nice talking with you," Keith gave Lance a small smile. "Plus the story of you getting stuck on a boat is the best thing I've ever heard."

 

Lance threw a pillow at Keith. "Go to bed, Kogane."

 

Keith got up and headed towards his room. He turned a corner and slowed down, looking back at Lance who sat in the pile of blankets they had acquired. Keith smiled at the sight of the ruffled boy. The smile quickly faded. He couldn't explain why, but he felt almost disappointed. He signed and walked back to his room, still wearing Lance's jacket.


	7. Another Drawing

Lance had ended up falling asleep on the couch in the pile of blankets. Shiro was the first one who found him and gently shook him away. "Morning, buddy," Shiro smiled as Lance groggily sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

 

"Morning?" He replied, sounding confused.

 

"You must've fallen asleep here. Looks like Keith found his way to bed though." Shiro smiled, taking a seat next to Lance.

 

"Yeah." Lance sighed.

 

"What's wrong?" Shiro said in a knowing sort of time.

 

"What? Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Why would you think something is wrong."

 

Shiro patted Lance's shoulder, "You're not as hard to read as you may think. So what's wrong?"

 

Lance groaned. He didn't want to tell Shiro the whole story, but he really could use some fatherlyish advice. "I have a secret that sort of involved one of my friends and I know I should tell them about... this thing. But I'm worried. And I feel like I've missed my opportunity to tell them."

 

Shiro took a moment to think about what Lance said before answering. "Well if it involves this person, they do have a right to know. However, you shouldn't put yourself in an uncomfortable situation if you can avoid it. But I don't think there is such a thing as a good opportunity to bring up something you are avoiding taking about. There are certainly better opportunities, but sometimes it's a matter of just doing it. And if they're really a good friend, they will hear you out and everything will work itself out."

 

Lance nodded, feeling better about the situation. "Thanks, Shiro. How are you do good at advice?"

 

Shiro shrugged, "I've seen some shit, Lance. Makes you good at giving advice." Lance wasn't sure whether he should laugh or not, so he gave a smile and a concerned look, but didn't say anything. "I am going to go train. Keith has beat me there the last three days, so hopefully the late night will mean I will get a jump on him." Shiro stood up and headed in the direction of the training deck. He stopped and added, "Also, Lance, make sure you clean this up."

 

"Yup," Lance said as Shiro jogged away, down the hall. Lance climbed out of his blanket cocoon and took a moment to stretch. He headed down towards the Paladin's bedrooms, ignoring the mess of blankest and pillows. He found the Red Paladin's room and knocked eagerly.

 

Lance could hear Keith walking over to the door and his heart was pounding. This was really the best opportunity, as his brain was not away enough to overthink it. Keith opened the door, clearly having just woken up. "Oh, hey Lance."

 

"HI Keith. Um, I was hoping I could talk to you about something."

 

"Uh, yeah. Wait, what time is it?" Keith asked. Before Lance could answer, Keith looked at the clock on his wall. "Crap, Shiro is probably waiting for me for our workout. Oh, sorry. Is this important?"

 

Lance's heart sank. "Oh, no, not really. Uh, it's nothing really."

 

"Okay. We can talk later. The later I am, the more Shiro holds it over my head." Keith laughed a little.

 

"Okay. Well, have a good workout."

 

"Thanks," Keith said, closing the door.

 

Lance walked to his room down the hall, rolling into bed. "He doesn't even want to talk to me."

 

"That's not true," A voice echoed through his room. For a split second Lance thought  _God?_ before he remembered about Pidge.

 

"Pidge, are you hiding in my vent?" Lance asked.

 

"It's not  _your_ vent. And clearly I am not hiding, if I was you wouldn't know I was here."

 

"Whatever," Lance groaned. "You're wrong anyway. I tried talking to him. I was going to tell him, and he just wanted to go workout."

 

"Of course he just wanted to go work out. He worked out every morning. And there is no way in hell he knew what you wanted to talk to him about. It's not fair to say he doesn't want to talk to you if you picked the wrong time to talk to him."

 

"Whatever. There's no point in telling him anyway. He won't feel the same way."

 

"Oh. My. God. I need backup. Stay there, I'll be back." Pidge said, followed by the sound of her crawling through the vents frantically.

 

Lance sighed and sat up, sliding back and sitting with his back against the wall. Less than five minutes later, Hunk barged through the door, followed by Pidge trailing a few steps behind. "What is this I hear about you not thinking Keith would like you."

 

"Damn. That's some good backup, Pidge." Lance said.

 

"Don't dodge the question." Hunk said, grabbing the chair in the corner of Lance's room and bringing it over next to the bed. Pidge sat on the other side of the bed from Lance.

 

"All I'm saying is that I'm me and Keith is Keith, so it makes sense that he wouldn't like me back." Lance said, grabbing a pillow and hugging it.

 

"No. Just no. I'm sorry but you're completely wrong. Lance you are amazing! You are funny, smart, talented, handsome, you are a hell of a shot, you are the sweetest person I've ever met, literally anyone would be lucky to have you. If I was gay, I  would have snatched you up already. If Pidge wasn't ace, she probably would've gone for it too." Hunk said. He somehow sounded angry while showering Lance with compliments.

 

"Might I add," Pidge cut in, "he is your soulmate. Your  _soulmate_ , Lance. You two were literally made for eachother. You do understand the concept of soulmates right?"

 

"That didn't sound like a real question, so I won't answer that," Lance said. "And that doesn't mean anything."

 

"Yes it does, Lance." Pidge said. "Besides, he deserves to know about this whole soulmate stuff."

 

"Let's ignore the soulmate stuff for a moment. You like him, don't you Lance?" Hunk asked.

 

"I don't know," Lance said weakly. "He's really cute and I like talking to him. And I really want to know more about his life. And his smile is beautiful and I think about him a lot."

 

"So yes, you do like him."

 

"Yeah."

 

"Treat this like anyone else you'd like. Ask him out, or tell him you like him." Hunk said.

 

Lance sighed. He knew Hunk was right, as usual. But that didn't make it much easier. "Okay. I will tell him soon. Why is everyone so good at this?"

 

Pidge shrugged. "Because it's obvious. But from what I've heard, the affairs of the heart make everything complicated."

 

"Thank you so much Pidge," Lance said. "Okay, I better clean up the stuff in the lounge before Shiro finishes his workout with Keith."

 

*******************

 

It had been a week since Lance's de-stress night. The Voltron team was still orbiting the same planet as Allura and Coran decided their next move.

 

Keith was sitting on the observation deck, twirling the pen in his hand and watching the stars. He sighed. "What's the point? I mean, clearly he doesn't want anything to do with me." He groaned and laid down, staring at the ceiling. "That's unfair. I don't know what's happening with him. But he could at least do something. Let me know he's out there." Keith was still twirling the pen and dropped it, making his hand a bit. "There I go again. Letting him know I am here. Probably won't get a response." Keith sat back up, deciding he might as well actually draw something. It might help him. Drawing was always therapeutic. He thought about drawing the stars again, but wanting to do something new, so he turned around and faced the entry way. Altean architecture fascinated him. He drew the curved edges and lines around it. It didn't take him long to draw the doorway, so he continued the wall up his arm. He added extra lines to fill space. He stood up, looking at the wall from different angles to add as much detail as he could. He was drawing for a little under fifteen minutes when he heard footsteps echoing off the walls, growing louder quickly.

 

Lance ran into the room, stopping a few feet away from him. "Lance?" Keith asked. "What's wrong? Is something happening?"

 

Lance looked worried, which made Keith worried. "yeah, no everything is fine." Lance said, out of breath. "I just..." He looked down at Keith's arm. Keith felt embarrassed about it. He couldn't imagine what Lance thought. He just had a drawing of a door on his arm. "Wanted to tell you something."

 

"Yeah? W-what is it Lance?" Keith asked.

 

"We were once space dust." Lance said.

 

Keith waited for a moment, expecting Lance to say more. "Yes. I told you that like a week ago. What does that have to do with anything?"

 

"No. No. I mean, yes you did tell me. But that's not what i meant. We were the same space dust."

 

"Lance, you have to be more clear, you know I'm bad at inferring what you say."

 

"We're soulmates." Lance almost shouted.

 

Keith didn't understand right away. Then Keith noticed Lance was nervously fidgeting with his arm. Keith then saw pen line across Lance's arm making up a sketch of the observation deck identical to the one on Keith's arm. His heart raced and his brain simultaneously thought a million things at once and completely shut off. He didn't say anything and neither did Lance for what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only a minute.

 

"I know it's crazy," Lance said, filling the space Keith left. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I mean, when I found out, god that was crazy." He laughed.

 

"Wait. What do you mean when you found out?" Keith asked. "When  _did_ you find out?"

 

"Two or three weeks ago. When you drew the constellations." Lance said.

 

Keith's attitude shifted from confused to angry. "A month. You have known about...  _this_ for a month. You never thought to tell me."

 

"Of course I thought to tell you. I never stopped thinking about telling you. I almost did a dozen times. Pidge and Hunk have been yelling at me for the past month about it."

 

"Pidge and Hunk!!" Keith nearly yelled. "Pidge and Hunk have known about  _this_ for a month, but I didn't. How could you not tell me." Keith huffed. "What the hell did you do. What did you do when you found out?"

 

"I-I ran away." Lance said, his voice small.

 

"You ran away." Keith repeated in a tone of disbelief.

 

"Well. Yeah! What would you have done!" Lance said. He was trying to match Keith's tone, but his voice came across much weaker.

 

"We'll never know, because you decided to  _run away._ " Keith said. "Ya know what, maybe I'll try this your way." He threw the pen he'd been holding to the side and walked quickly out of the room.


	8. Hunk's Advice

Lance stood in the middle of the observation deck. He couldn't move. He didn't want to. He wanted to wake up from whatever terrible nightmare he was trapped in. His heart hadn't stopping beating since he saw the new drawing and raced here, but it felt a thousand times heavier now. He didn't know what to think or how to feel, so he just felt numb.

 

After several minutes just standing and staring at the doorway where Keith had left through, he finally moved. He picked up the pen Keith threw and pocketed it before walking to his room. He put the pen under his pillow and changed into his swimsuit. He didn't want to just sit in his room alone, he couldn't. He needed to move. Without giving it a second thought, Lance headed to the elevator to go to the pool. He had learned how to actually get in and out of the Altean ceiling pool, and while it wasn't elegant, he could do it.

 

Lance kept his thoughts at bay as he rode the elevator to the pool and climbed in. The cool water reminded him of Earth and swimming with his family. He spent his entire summer, or at least as much as he could, at the beach. It was a running joke in his family that Lance could swim before he could walk. He was always the first on in the water at the start of the summer before the water got warm enough for everyone else. He knew that if he stayed in the water long enough, his body would get used to the cold and he wouldn't be as cold. His mother thought he was crazy.

 

Lance started doing laps as soon as he got into the pool. Once his body got into the rhythm, his mind started going. It felt like his body and his mind were racing one another. His thoughts were going so fast he couldn't make any counterpoints. He just swam and berated himself for handling the situation so badly. Shiro would've done a better job. He wouldn't have run in the first place. Pidge would just own up to the mistake after it happened and not wait for a month. Hunk would've done some grand gesture instead of just running into the room and panting like an idiot. Allura would have had a well thought out plan. Hell, even Coran would've done a better job at handling this than he did. Keith would never forgive him after this. Why should he? Keith deserves someone better than him. Anyone would. He feels sorry for Keith, being stuck with a lousy soulmate as him.

 

Lance continued to berate himself. He decided he should have thought more about what to say to Keith. He had weeks to think it through, but instead of doing that he just ran in without a thought. But he couldn't do that the first time, because then he might not have screwed everything up, which is completely impossible for him. At least now that Keith hated him, Keith would be able to move on and find happiness somewhere else instead of being stuck with him. And he could continue to sadly try to get attention from anything and anyone he came across. Lance laughed a little. If Hunk heard what Lance was thinking right now, he would never hear the end of it. Hunk would shower him with compliments and probably food. He really didn't deserve a best friend like Hunk.

 

Lance finally got all of his ugly thoughts out and he stopped swimming, instead began floating on his back and staring at the ceiling, or actually the floor. "Okay. I need to actually think my next step through." He said aloud. Since his face wasn't in the water anymore, he could actually vocalize his thought. "Do I apologize or give him space? Both probably. Somehow. Maybe slid a letter under his door apologizing? That sounds like it'll backfire on me honestly. I need to find Hunk."

 

********************

 

Keith couldn't believe Lance. He expected more from his soulmate. Keith didn't want to deal with his thoughts and feelings, he wanted to punch someone, something would also do. He stormed off toward the training deck. In his anger, he wasn't paying close attention. He rounded a corner and ran directly into Coran. Keith fell over, but Coran stayed on his feet somehow. "Whoa, you okay my boy? Coran asked. He was smiling happily, as always.

 

"Yeah, fine." Keith said quietly, picking himself up. "Sorry about that."

 

"It's no problem. Where are you off to so quickly?"

 

"Just going to do some training."

 

"You sure are dedicated." Coran said, then gave Keith a knwing look and added, "Unless there's some other reason you've been training so much?"

 

Keith's heart, and maybe his entire body he couldn't tell, jumped when Coran said this. "What other reason would there be? It's just training."

 

Coran hummed. "Training helps focus one's mind as well as increase their bodily skills. Alfor used to train particularly hard when he had a tough decision he was trying to avoid. Anything you may be trying to keep off your mind?"

 

"Isn't there always" Keith said, trying to replicate Coran's annoying cryptic and knowing questions.

 

"That there is, young paladin." Coran said thoughtfully. "Anything I may be able to help with?"

 

"No offense, Coran, but it's complicated and I don't think you'd understand most of it. It's a very human situation that is happening."

 

"You might be surprised at how un-unique humans are. You aren't the first paladins to encounter issues of love amongst the group. The only difference is, the love felt between the first paladins was more of an unrequited one." Coran said this, smiled, and turned away from Keith, headed on his way with a bounce in his step. He could have said more, but Coran always seemed to know when he was understood.

 

Keith gave up on going to the training deck. He didn't need to bury his thoughts, he needed to work through them. But he found himself laying on his bed, unsure of how. After about an hour or so of laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to think, he gave up. All he was doing was replaying what had happened earlier that day. Had it really just been earlier that day? What time was it? He had gone to the observation deck after dinner, so probably late. He was tired, though he didn't know if that was from it being late of from it having been an emotional day. Maybe he would try to sleep and think this over tomorrow.

 

Keith sighed and rolled onto his side, shutting his eyes and trying to sleep.

 

*******************

 

Lance finally decided to make his way out of the pool. He dried off and threw on a shirt before heading to Hunk's room. He knocked and walked in before Hunk answered. hunk was sitting in one of the chairs in his room, reading a book. "Hey dude." Hunk said. "Did you go swimming?"

 

"Yeah," Lance said, throwing himself onto Hunk's bed.

 

"Come on. You're going to get my pillow wet." Hunk groaned, putting his book aside and moving to the chair closer to the bed. "So what's up?"

 

"I told Keith." Lance said, throwing his arms over his face.

 

"I'm guessing it didn't go well. What made you finally tell him?"

 

Lance's words were slightly muffled by his arm. "He drew something again. It was the doorway to the observation deck. So I ran to him."

 

"What happened next?"

 

"I told him. Not in the obvious way. I tried to be cute by referring to the soulmate story he told me a week ago. But then I told him. We're soulmates. He didn't say anything."

 

"Oh no. What did you say?" Hunk asked. He knew his best friend too well. Lance always needed to fill the silence, and it usually didn't work out well.

 

"I was trying to make him feel better. Let him know I had issues with it too. That it was a shock for me. But I told him I was freaked out when I found out. And he was suddenly angry. Especially when I told him I talked to you and Pidge about it. Then he found out I ran away. Then he threw the pen and ran away. It all happened so fast. I don't know what to do or how to feel."

 

"I understand you are in turmoil right now. But so is Keith. You need to talk to him."

 

"Yeah, because that worked out so well last time. I doubt he even wants to talk to me." Lance sat up, facing Hunk. "Maybe you could talk to him for me!"

 

At first, Lance thought Hunk just looked annoyed, which would be somewhat rare but not unheard of. But then Lance realized Hunk was angry with him. Hunk tried to keep his composure. "Lance. What the hell. I can't talk to your soulmate for you. Think about that for a minute. If I went to Keith and said 'oh, Lance doesn't want to face you, so I'm here for him.' That is not fair to Keith. You can't hide from this."

 

Lance looked down. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'll talk to him. But first I have to talk to someone else."

 

Hunk nodded. "Good luck, buddy. Just be honest with him. And remember, just because you're soulmates doesn't mean everything will magically fall into place."

 

"Thanks." Lance said, standing up and heading to the door. "And Hunk. Thanks for putting up with all my crap lately."

 

"I appreciate the thank you, however that sounds like self deprecation and you know how I feel about that." Hunk said in a stern, but sweet tone.

 

*******************

 

The next day, Keith did his usual morning workout routine, but returned to his room right after. He didn't want to risk running into Lance. He still hadn't figured anything out. He had let himself shut off his brain during his workout, but now he paced his room trying to figure out his emotions.

 

Not long after his pacing began, someone knocked at his door. His heart pounded. Was Lance really going to show up so soon after everything happened? Keith couldn't bring himself to cross his room and open the door to find out under there was another knock followed by a quiet voice of Hunk saying, "Keith? It's Hunk. You in there?"

 

Keith felt relief, which was quickly overtaken by annoyance. He walked over and opened the door. "What?" He said, a bit too harsh as Hunk looked hurt.

 

"I heard what happened." Hunk said, staring at his hands, which wrung together nervously.

 

"And you're here for Lance to convince me to forgive him and forget what he did."

 

"No." Hunk said, almost surprised Keith would suggest that. "I just. Lance told me what happened, but I'm not here for him. He doesn't even know I'm here."

 

"So why are you here?"

 

"I thought you could use a friend." Hunk smiled. "Lance always comes to Pidge and I to talk about stuff and it seems to help him. I've been told I'm a good listener. I didn't know if you ever really talked to anyone about stuff like this. I know you sometimes talk to Shiro, but I don't know how personal your conversation get. And sometimes you, well not specifically you but people in general, might not want to explain all the details. It can get complicated. But I already know most of the story. I know Lance's side, so you really just need to talk about how you're feeling. And I promised to remain impartial. I care about Lance, but I also care about you, you're my buddy and I want you to be happy. And dealing with this stuff on your own must suck."

 

Keith couldn't help but smile a bit at his rambling friend. "Yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have someone to talk to." He opened the door.

 

Hunk shuffled in, making sure to carefully close the door behind him before sitting in the chair in Keith's room. "So what exactly happened last night?"

 

Keith explain the events of the previous night. How he wanted to give up and never talk to his soulmate again, but decided he might as well. How Lance came running in and Keith was about to hide his drawing, but then he saw Lance's. The mirror image of his own drawing. Keith had only ever imagined his drawing on the other's skin, then he saw it. "Everything was fine, perfect even for a moment. Then he ruined everything! He knew! He knew and didn't tell me! How could he keep something like that to himself!" Keith was pacing furiously around the room. "Actually, he didn't keep it to himself. No. He told half the ship about it! He couldn't find the courage to face me about this, so he ran off and talked about it behind my back! I had a right to know!"

 

"You have every right to be upset right now." Hunk said, clearly choosing his wording carefully. "Though I can't help but wonder if there is something else causing this anger." Keith stopped and glared daggers at Hunk. He wasn't upset at him, but what Hunk just said clearly hit a nerve. Keith had already considered that, but didn't want to face the answer. Hunk backtracked. "Sorry I shouldn't downplay your anger like that. You are allowed to be angry at what happened. Lance should have come to you first. However, have you considered looking at it as if the roles had been reversed. It might be easy to say you would have told him immediately, but that might not be the case."

 

Keith began pacing again, this time slower and less angry. Hunk noted that Keith seemed to need to move his body to think. "Obviously I would have wanted to tell him as soon as possible. I would have run up the first time I saw him. If I had run, I would have talked to him the next day. Used that night to think through what to say. Bring him flower or something. I wouldn't have waited this long to tell him."

 

"Well think about Lance's insecurities. He was afraid of how you would have responded if he had done that."

 

"Lance's insecurities," Keith rolled him eyes. "He flirts with every alien he meets! That's another thing I don't understand! He knows he has a soulmate! Yet he still can't help himself. He has to flirt."

 

"I want to remind you I am remaining impartial. However, I can explain Lance's perspective on this, if you would like." Hunk said. When Keith didn't object, he took this as an okay to proceed. "Well, Lance is bisexual as you know. So he never even knew the gender of his soulmate. And his type has always been very, well, broad. He flirts with everything because, in his mind, anyone could be his soulmate. Well, that was the original thought process and I think it spiraled from there. He wants to make sure he makes a good impression on everyone he meets, though his attempts are usually misguided and over the top."

 

"I don't get that. When I learned I had a soulmate, I never thought to try and impress anyone. Dating never seemed important. Why date when you have someone out there perfect for you."

 

Hunk shrugged. "Practice I think also was part of it for Lance. He wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing with his soulmate."

 

"We both know how  _that_ worked out."

 

Hunk laughed a little. "Yeah, well Lance isn't the best planner."

 

This made Keith smile softly. Then he remembered he was angry and his smile turned into a scowl. Hunk was very skilled at keeping the conversation at least somewhat lighthearted, but Keith was not in the mood to make fun of Lance.


	9. Check Yes or No

Lance left Hunk's room with a small smile at his friends comment. Hunk made a rule one day that Lance was no longer allowed to make self deprecating comments. While Lance usually didn't follow this rule, he did usually get chided for it, which amused him and reminded him that even though Hunk was mad, they wren't fighting, which made him feel better.

 

Lance headed towards one of the lower levels of the castle. He was in one of those moods where he couldn't sit in one place for a long time. He needed to move from location to location, because one of them might have the answers he's looking for.

 

It didn't take long for him to reach his destination. A small room with three rows of benches, one on each side of a short aisle, and a podium at the front. He had stumbled across this room pretty early on in his castle exploration and it reminded him of the small church he went to with his family. It was just another place where he could remember home.

 

He stepped inside the room and took a seat in the middle row, right side. There was a little window above the podium at the top of the wall that he stared out of. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Hi mom. I hope you're doing well. It's been a month or two since we talked. I've kind of lost track of time honestly. Kind of reminds me of being at school, ya know? Assignments pile up and suddenly three months have gone by. Except it's worse, since we are using the Altean way of telling time and I can't quite figure out what the Earth equivalent is. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Coran is just making up words when we ask him about how much time has passed." Lance laughed. The laugh was a bit hollow. He knew if he was home and talking face to face with his mom, they would have laughed about it. But he was alone.

 

"But I didn't bother you just to complain about time. Mom, I have some pretty big news. I found my soulmate." He paused, giving her a change to react. "Tell sis she won the bet. My soulmate is a boy. Though please also smack her if she tries to say something about being homosexual, cause I'm not there to correct her. When I get back, we can talk about how to break it to grandma.

 

"Though don't get too excited. We aren't dating or anything. Honestly I screwed it all up I think. I found out a while ago. Well, not too long ago, like a few weeks I think. But I found out and didn't tell him. I was afraid of what he was going to say. I didn't know how to tell him." He paused to take a deep breathe. "I know what you're probably saying right now. 'Excuses are all well and good, but what are you going to do to fix it.' I'm just trying to give him some space. Which is probably just me being afraid again." Lance wanted to change the subject. If his mom were here, he'd have no problem sitting down with her and venting and telling her all about how he messed up. But she couldn't respond. Probably couldn't even head him, though Lance would not be surprised if she could, she might have some super mom powers.

 

"But mom. Let me tell you about my soulmate. His name is Keith. Yeah, the Keith from the Garrison." Lance sat in the room talking to his mom for another half an hour. It started with talking about Keith, but he got off topic and he started talking about the entire Voltron squad.

 

********************

 

Keith found another reason he was angry with Lance. "And another thing. It's not like Lance didn't have plenty of opportunities to tell me. Hell, I told him the story my dad told me about soulmates. That was personal! And probably the best time he could have told me."

 

He didn't try to defend Lance.  He knew his friend almost did tell Keith then. But Hunk was here so Keith could vent. "That is understandable."

 

"He just shouldn't have kept it to himself, ya know?"

 

"That seems to be what you're most upset about," Hunk pointed out.

 

"I'm upset about everything! I'm upset at the whole situation!" Keith yelled, throwing his arms up before crossing them again angrily.

 

Hunk nodded. "Sometimes its best to find the root of most the anger. It's valid that you are upset by everything. But just being upset won't help you"

 

"Help me what? Help me forgive Lance and run into his arms? I that what you think I want!"

 

"No," Hunk said. He was very calm despite Keith's anger now seemingly directed at him. "I want you to be able to figure out what you want to do. And just being angry won't help that. If you want to stay angry, you can. I will listen to you vent about everything you need to."

 

Keith's shoulders sank. "I don't  _want_ to be angry. But it's just not fair."

 

Hunk thought about standing and giving Keith a hug, but he didn't know Keith's comfort levels well enough and didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. So he waited patiently for Keith to speak. It took a couple minutes, but Keith said softly, "It's not fair for him to keep that from me. He should have thought about that. I don't know anything about my mother because my father decided he was never ready to talk to me about it, and now it's too late. I have to scrape together tiny bits of information about who I am because he never talked to me. Now Lance. Now my  _soulmate_ , the person who should understand me better than anyone else, decides he wasn't ready to talk to me. How can I trust him to talk to me from now on?"

 

Hunk stood up and walked over to Keith, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Do you need a hug?" Keith looked up and him and turned into his arms. Hunk stood there, hugging Keith in the middle of his room. After a few moments, Keith sniffled and stepped away from Hunk. "I'm really sorry, Keith. What Lance did was unfair, but communication is unfortunately a tricky thing for people to get right. But you know Lance was never trying to hurt you. Try talking to him. You don't have to run into his arms, you don't have to forgive him, you don't have to trust him. But you do have to talk to him."

 

"I'm scared, Hunk. Not just about talking to him about this. But of opening up to him. If we can move past this, then what happens next?"

 

"That's up to the two of you. Relationships are defined entirely by the two people in them. Or I should say the people in them, doesn't have to be just two, but I'm getting off topic. So figure out what you want first."

 

"Easier said than done."

 

Hunk laughed at this, "Isn't everything." He put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Do you want me to stay and talk it out with you now, or would you rather think about it alone?"

 

"You should probably stay. Honestly, you have been a lifesaver. If I was alone thinking about this it would probably have taken me 10 times as long." Keith smiled.

 

"Well I am glad to help. And no one has ever been this receptive to my advice! We were made for each other."

 

Keith and Hunk spent the next few hours talking. Eventually they had to venture out of Keith's room to get food. After they are their late lunch/early dinner, which Keith refused to call Linner no matter how many times Hunk said it, Keith finally said, "Alright I figured it out."

 

"Want to run through how you're going to say it?" Hunk asked

 

"I think I can cover that. You've helped so much, Hunk. I owe you about 1,000 favors." Keith laughed.

 

"You do not, I was happy to help. So you only owe me like 500," Hunk joked. "Well I will leave you to figure everything out. If you need anything, I'll be around." He was about to leave when he added, "And Keith. Good luck. I hope everything works out for you two."

 

"Me too," Keith smiled.

 

********************

 

Lance was in the small room on the lower levels of the castle, talking to the air and hoping his mother would somehow hear him, describing all of his fellow paladins. "Pidge, who I mentioned a few times from the Garrison, has this crazy backstory! First off, turns out he is actually a girl. Did not see that one coming, though apparently everyone else did. And she joined the Garrison to find out more about her family. She is great. She is crazy smart, smarter than Hunk honestly, though not by much. She's like a little sister to me. One that could easily kick my butt. Not too different than all the girls back home I guess. I do worry about her a lot. She's going to burn herself out. She tends to get invested in whatever little project she is doing and doesn't go to bed until she falls asleep on her project, or one of us drags her to bed. You would love this girl. She has the sort of passion and fire that could destroy the world. Though I doubt Hunk would let her."

 

"Hunk has been good, just so you know. I know you were probably worried about him too. I hope his family is doing okay. Though I'm sure you've already showed up a few times with food for them. His mama is a chef, you really don't need to do that Mom." Lance laughed. "Hunk is pretty much a chef around the castle at this point. Coran does some cooking, but he cooks about as well as dad does. I've been meaning to try cooking, but I just haven't gotten around to it," Lance paused and a smile spread across his face. "Mom, I'll talk to you later. I have an idea."

 

He got up and headed to the door and he could practically hear his mom clear her throat impatiently, as she did when she wanted him to notice something. "Oh, right," He laughed sheepishly. "A little over dramatic there. Yeah, here's my idea. I'm going to make dinner for Keith and I. Set it up in the observation deck, surprise him, ya know? I gotta go find Hunk. I don't really know what we have in the kitchen. Thanks for listening, Mom. I really miss you. Tell the family I send love. I'll be home soon, I promise."

 

Lance left, having the same feeling he always had when he left the room. He felt better having talked to his mom, but he also felt like someone stabbed him in the best. He loved his space family, but damn he missed his family back home. He thought leaving them for the Garrison would be hard, but it was a cake walk in comparison to this. At least he got to see them for the holiday back at the Garrison. Talking to his mom like this reminded him of how far he really was. Now he needed to find Hunk for kitchen help and a hug.

 

Lance found Hunk checking some pipes outside of the kitchen. He'd opened a panel in the wall and was laying on the ground with his arm in the wall. "Hey bud," Lance said. Hunk jumped at the sudden greeting, his arm hitting something with a loud bang.

 

"Ow!" He exclaimed. "Hi Lance, how's it going?" Lance shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Did you just talk to your mom?" Lance nodded. "Do you need a hug?" Lance nodded. Hunk got up with a groan and wiped off his arm with the rag he had in his back pocket before wrapping his arms around his friend. Lance returned the hug and they stood there for a bit before Lance pulled away.

 

"Well she helped me figure out what I want to do." Lance said.

 

"That's great. What's the plan?" Hunk asked.

 

"I'm going to make him dinner. Kind of an apology, kind of a 'what's up' feel to it. Ya know?" Lance said.

 

Hunk laughed, "Maybe phrase it better than 'what's up,' but I think that's a great idea."

 

"Yeah. I need your help though. I want to cook, but the ingredients scare me. Can you help me figure out the recipe?"

 

"Sure, bud. When do you want to do the dinner?" Hunk asked.

 

"No idea, haven't gotten that far."

 

"Alright. Are you going to ask him in advance?"

 

"I don't know. Should I? That's probably the best plan right? That way I don't do everything and then he just not show up ya know?" Lance said. "Let's go into the kitchen and figure this out." Hunk nodded and they walked into the kitchen. Lance went to the cabinets and started opening them up to see what they had. "I have the pen though, so I could probably ask him via his arm." This made Hunk laugh. "What's so funny?"

 

"Nothing. Just, without context, that would sound so weird. I imagine you tryin to sneak up to Keith and write an invitation on his arm."

 

Lance joined Hunks laughing. "That sounds like something Pidge would do. Sneak through the vents and wait for her victim to fall asleep. Scrawl a creepy invitation across their arm and disappear just as they wake up."

 

"Okay, okay," Hunk said between chuckles. "We need to focus." Lance nodded and they began plotting.

 

******************

 

Keith was sitting in bed trying to figure out how exactly he wanted to phrase his feeling to Lance. He had some ideas that were written in the notebook open next to him. He twirled the pen in his hand as he thought. He was staring at the paper and noticed a lone on his arm. He hadn't dropped the pen, so he wasn't sure what it was from until he felt the familiar itch on his arm followed by lines appearing. He couldn't suppress his smile as he watched the words appear. "So you grabbed the pen. Smooth moves, McClain."

 

He waited for the message to appear. Lance had written, 'I'm very dumb, to make it up to you, meet me in the observation room tomorrow at 6pm for dinner?' Below that there were two boxes, next to one was the word yes, next to the other the word no. Surrounding the message were uneven stars of various sizes.

 

Keith's smile stayed on his face as he took the pen and put a check mark in the yes box. Now he just needed to occupy himself til tomorrow night. And figure out what he was going to say. Probably also avoid Lance. Would it be weird to see Lance before their date? It was a date right. Definitely. This was definitely a date. Dinner in the observation room is a date. He knew this, but he should probably confirm it. He didn't want to bug Hunk more, besides he had a feeling Lance was doing that. And he couldn't ask Shiro without explaining everything and he didn't want to yet. So Pidge was his best option.

 

He put the paper and pen back in their place and headed out to find Pidge. Keith expected to be checking basically every room and duct in the castle, because that's what usually happened when someone wanted to find Pidge, but instead, he nearly ran over her when he headed out of his room. "Hey!" She shouted, struggling to gain her balance and keep a hold of the various tools and bits of machinery she was carrying. "Watch it Keith."

 

"Pidge!" Keith yelled before realizing he was yelling. He corrected his volume, trying to act cool, "Just the person I wanted to see."

 

"What's up," She said.

 

"I just wanted to-" Keith started as Pidge began walking down the hall.

 

"Come on, keep up Kogane, I got stuff to do, walk and talk," Pidge said.

 

Keith took a moment to recollect himself before hurrying to catch up with the girl half his height moving twice as fast. "Well I just wanted to get your help."

 

"That's more Hunk's department."

 

"I know. But I got his help earlier. And I think I know what's happening but I just wanted to confirm it, ya know?"

 

"So ask Shiro. You two are buds right?" She turned sharply down the hall. It took Keith a moment to realize and he had to clumsily turn and speed up to catch back up to her.

 

"Uh. Yeah. We're buds. But its about Lance. And me. So I thought. Ya know. You know more about it than Shiro does. Do it'd be easier. To ask you." Keith said, stumbling through his words.

 

Pidge went into a room and spread her array of metal bits across the table that was in there and began tinkering with them. She didn't say anything. After a moment, she looked up at Keith who was standing there awkwardly. "Well?"

 

"Well what?" Keith asked.

 

"What do you need help with?" Pidge asked.

 

"Oh. So Lance asked if I wanted to meet him in the observation deck tomorrow at six for dinner. Is this a date?" Keith asked.

 

Pidge continued tinkering, taking a moment to think before answering Keith's question. "Well. I don't have much personal experience with dates. But knowing Lance and the situation, yes it is a date. If you want to be sure, you can always ask him."

 

"What if he thinks it's a stupid question?"

 

"It's Lance. He won't think it's stupid. Plus, you two are soulmates."

 

"Yeah," Keith grumbled. Pidge heard something in his tone, but she didn't know what it was and didn't ask about it. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. "Thanks, Pidge."

 

"Anytime, Keith. I know this is stressful, but trust in yourself. If you're worried about something, you can open up to Lance. Not just because he's your soulmate, but because he's a good person in general. Despite his jokes, he cares a lot."

 

Keith nodded, "This helped." He left Pidge to her tinkering. He had been a little curious as to what she was working on, but he'd learned sometimes it was better not to know. As he walked back to his room, he pulled the pen out of his pocket and looked down at his arm. He thought talking via their arms would be easier than discussing this face to face. Besides, he had no idea where Lance spent his time. He was ale to rationalize this decision. He wrote on his arm while he walked slowly down the hall. "So, McClain, is this dinner a date?"

 

He dropped his arm, knowing it might take a bit for Lance to respond. Now he just needed to do something until tomorrow evening.

 

********************

 

Lance was still in the kitchen with Hunk. "Okay, so if I made Spaghetti, the red sauce that is in the fridge is definitely not edible."

 

"Yes. Pidge put it there, it is either some sludge from a planet or some oil from the ship. Please do not put that on your spaghetti." Hunk said. 

 

"Alright. God I wish I would've paid more attention when Mom cooked." 

 

"Luckily you have me. I am not half the cook your mom is, but I'm sure we can manage."

 

Lance smiled. "What did I do to have a best friend as great as you, Hunk?"

 

"Aw, Lance." Hunk grinned.

 

"Oh Keith wrote something."

 

"What'd he say, what'd he say!" Hunk squealed. Lance showed Hunk the message. "How are you going to respond? This is a date, right?"

 

"Yeah. I think. Maybe. I don't know." 

 

"You just gave four different answers." Hunk pointed out. "You don't have to have everything figured out right now but you do have to have some of an idea of like the direction you're going. Do you want this to be a date with him?"

 

"Yes." Lance said.

 

"Then tell him that. I know this stuff gets complicated, but trust in what you want. You two are soulmates, so I assume that means he'll be on the same page. But he cant be if you don't tell him what page you're on."

 

"God dammit, Hunk. Why do you have to make so much sense?" Lance laughed. He grabbed the pen he had and wrote a note back, reading it aloud for Hunk. "'Yes that is. Unless that scares you Kogane.' Then I put a smiley face with its tongue sticking out."

 

"Classy. Now back to the food. What is a go to thing you know you can cook?"

 

"My main specialty is really breakfast food. But that doesn't seem, I don't know, fancy enough"

 

"Keith did live in a shack for a bit, so he doesn't really seem the fancy type"

 

"What about pizza? I can make some ballin' pizza from scratch, dough and all. Do we have the ingredients for that?"

 

"I think so. We might need to do a test run to make sure all the ingredients work."

 

"Is this some ploy to get me to cook pizza for you?"

 

"10% a ploy, 90% we need to actually test it."

 

"Alright. So I'll list ingredients and you show me the closest equivalent."

 

"I'm so excited for this pizza." Hunk said, getting up from the table and heading for the cabinet with most of the food.

 

******************

 

Keith smirked as the message came through. He was on his way to the training deck, because, well, where else would he kill time? He also had to think of a good thing to reply with. So it was a date. He was happy about this, but it also added some pressure. He hadn't done the date thing much. Especially not with his soulmate.

 

When he made it to the training deck, Allura was there sparring one of the robots. "Hello, Keith," She greeted him without breaking her concentration.

 

"Hey Allura" Keith said

 

"How have you been? I haven't talk to you much in the last few weeks."

 

"You know, the usual. Training hard. I haven't spent much time with Red, so I might take her out for a fly later."

 

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Allura knocked the robot down. "Keeping your bond strong is important. I've been worried that being stuck around this planet hasn't given you all time to maintain and grow your bonds with your lions and each other."  The robot had stood back up and Allura was dodging the attacks as she finished her thought.

 

"There's always time for that. And I don't think our bonds and really in danger." Keith said. "Plus we are already getting some down time to hang out, which is I think new for us."

 

Allura took one more swing at the robot, cutting it and ending the sparring sequence. "I'm glad you all are getting a break. But it won't last forever. So what have you all been doing while Coran and I have been busy? Besides leaving a mess in the lounge?" Allura asked in a teasing tone.

 

"That one was Lance's fault."

 

"Speaking of Lance, what is going on with you two? From what Pidge said you two have been bugging her about one another. She wouldn't say what with though."

 

"Oh, that." Keith said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

 

"Are you two having issues?"

 

"No, well we were for a bit, but I think we're good now. I mean, I am still a bit hurt by what happened, but I think once we like talk about it I'll be okay, and I talked through it with Hunk. And I think my feelings have now shifted away from anger to, well something else. I guess we will see how it all plays out. But to answer your question, we aren't having issues. Not at this exact moment anyway."

 

"Alright. Well I am glad to hear that. I think."

 

"Hey I was coming down here to do some training. Want to spare or something?"

 

"Sure, though it won't be very fair." Allura said. "I am much stronger than you after all."

 

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Keith said, knowing full well Allura was stronger.

 

As they spared, Keith felt Lance drawing on his arm. Him and Allura took breaks occasionally to drink water and catch their breath, so Keith replied when he could. It was just doodles across their arms, something they had done quite a lot in the past. But this was different, because he knew who was on the other side, he knew who was replying, and this made his heart flutter more than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, just one more to go! I promise I will update it sooner than 3 months from now!


	10. A little more familiar

Lance was nervous. He had been on plenty of first dates, and he was generally pretty cool and collect during them, and even when he was nervous he could play it off well. This time was different. Not just because it was his soulmate. It was also Keith. He had had a crush on Keith for a while honestly. He pushed down his nerves has best he could and focused on getting ready. He had three hours until he needed to start cooking, just enough time to get ready. He looks through his closet. "We really need to go back to the space mall," Lance muttered to himself "I need some new digs." He looked through the few clothes he had. The paladins really just wore the clothes they had from Earth when they weren't in the paladin armor. It was their only connection to home. Not everyone came prepared with a backpack like Pidge.

 

Lance ignored the clothes for a minute, undecided if he wanted to throw on his normal clothes or wear the weird Altean outfits. He had done it a few times, but felt like he looked too much like Coran. Instead, he went and took a shower. As he let the water wash over him, he thought about the date. "Okay, Lance. You've done this before. You just have to be charming. A perfect gentleman. Make him feel special. Keep the conversation on him if you can, but have some fun anecdotes to share."

 

******************

 

Keith's pre-date was very different than Lance's. It was over three hours until the date and Keith was pacing his room. What was he thinking? He was going to go on a date. He doesn't know how to date! And isn't everyone always saying don't date someone at work or whatever. This isn't just work, this is a work he kind of can't leave. On a ship with seven people, if this goes wrong... "Stop it," He groaned, "don't worry about it going wrong." He can't focus on that. Or else it's like a self fulfilling prophecy or whatever.

 

Keith spent the next roughly two and a half hours pacing around his room, going between thinking about what could go wrong, to just sort of staring at the wall. He finally checked the time and realized he had done nothing to prepare. Not that he knew how to really prepare. He had spent this morning mostly deciding how he wanted to talk to Lance about everything and decided on nothing.

 

Now he had half an hour to get ready. He decided his usual outfit was fine, because that's all he had. Except for his jacket. He still had Lance's jacket from when it all started. A small part of him worried it would be weird to show up to a first date wearing the other persons jacket. But that thought faded when he slipped it on and it just felt right.

 

Keith went to grab the brush on his table, and saw one of the pens. He pushed up the sleeve of his, Lance's, jacket and drew one of the constellations from home. Once he finished, he ran the brush through his hair and looked in the mirror for ten minutes, trying to decide if he should keep it as is or put it in a ponytail. He really did have a mullet. He put it in as neat of a ponytail as he could and called it good. By the time he finished, Lance had added something to his drawing. Lance wrote below the constellation. "The Leo constellation. Very fitting for the castle of lions." This made Keith laugh.

 

He finished getting ready, which really just meant he put on his shoes and brushed his teeth real quick, and started making his way to the observation deck. He tried to walk at a normal, casual pace, but it was hard with his heart beating so fast. It didn't take long for him to get there. When he walked in, he saw Lance and a wave of calm hit him.

 

Lance was putting something on the table and fussing with it. He hadn't noticed Keith walk in, and Keith just stood there for a moment, watching him. Lance was wearing an interesting shirt, probably one from an old Paladin or Altean that was in the castle somewhere. It looked a little goofy, reminded him of Coran's clothes, but hipper, and it fit Lance well.

 

He finally stopped staring and walked into the room. Lance heard him and turned around. They smiled at each other. "Hey that's my jacket."

 

 "It's been in my room for like a month, so I think that means it's mind now." Keith said, walking over to the table.

 

Lance pulled out one of the chairs and offered it to Keith. Keith sat down, trying to keep his face from turning red. "Such a gentlemen," Keith said. "Did you drag this table in here just for this?"

 

Lance sat in the chair across from Keith, "Well I may have gotten some assistance from Hunk. But after we got it in here, I did the rest."

 

"And did Hunk give you some assistance with dinner as well?" Keith said in a teasing voice.

 

"If you are implying he cooked this for me, I am offended. He helped me make sure I didn't put some non-edible stuff in it, but I did the actual cooking."

 

"So what did you cook?" Keith asked, looking at the various cloths covering part of the table.

 

Lance grabbed the white cloth in the center and revealed the pizza." My coking skills may not be as refined as Hunks, but I do make a mean pizza. This is a margarita pizza. I know the cheese is green, but I promise that Hunk said it was fine."

 

"I have not had pizza in so long. No one would deliver to a shack in the middle of the desert." Keith said.

 

Lance used a spatula and slide a piece onto each of their plates. "The Garrison pizza was no good. I only ate it when there was absolutely nothing else left in the cafeteria. Water?" Keith nodded and Lance filled their cups. With Lance doing everything, Keith wasn't exactly sure what to do with his hands. He let the nervously mess with the hem of the jacket under the table. "We also have breadsticks and some cookies." He uncovered the two baskets that sat on the table.

 

"It all looks fantastic." Keith said, taking a sip of the water.

 

Lance was still nervous, but he thought it at least wasn't going terribly. "So other than no pizza delivery, I feel like I don't know a ton about what you were up to before all this craziness." Lance took a bite of the pizza to give Keith an opening to talk about something. It was very good pizza and he was pleased with himself.

 

"I feel like there isn't much to tell. Before space it was me in the shack after getting kicked out of the Garrison. The shack was only exciting if you liked long hot days with no air conditioning and a lot of sand. I pretty much spent most of my time seeking out the blue lion, before we knew what the blue lion was, and fixing my hoverbike. Fixing being really just taking it apart and putting it together a bunch. Because at some point I ran out of ways to modify it."

 

"Why am I not surprised by that. Guess we're lucky your bike was put together when Shiro came crashing down to Earth."

 

"It actually wasn't. I was in the process of putting it back together when I found out. So I put together as many piece as I could, drove it to where I knew the Garrison had some old bikes and stole on of theirs. Which is probably one of the reasons y'all got there before me," Keith laughed. "This is really great pizza by the way Lance. Well done."

 

"Thank you very much. I am a many of many talents. So what about before the Garrison. You had mentioned you lived with your dad for a bit when you told me the soulmate story."

 

Keith shrugged. "It was me and dad ever since I remember. I have a couple vague memories about my mom. But it's nothing concrete, no face, no name. Just a smile, brilliant and fierce. But dad and I had some good times. I used to climb a lot as a kid. Too often, really. For a while we lived right next to some woods and when it was dinner time, my dad would just sort of walk to the edge of the forest and yell my name a couple times. And because I climbed trees so much, I also fell out of them a lot. Once I broke my arm falling out of a tree, climbed a bit too high and a bit too far from the trunk. And the school asked me a bunch of questions about my home life, probably thinking my dad did it or something."

 

Lance and Keith laughed together about this. "Me and my brothers used to race climbing trees all the time, but we were not very good at it. My sister, Veronica, though. She was insanely good at climbing. At least once she got in trouble with ma and shot up a tree before she could say anything."

 

"I definitely did that a couple times. Though it usually ended with a worse punishment than I would've gotten if I had just stayed on the ground."

 

"But that's not nearly as fun," Lance laughed.

 

Keith felt at ease talking to Lance like this. It felt like when they were having the de-stress night. Conversation just felt natural. And seeing Lance smile and laugh was nice. God Lance had a nice smile. Lopsided, goofy, precious.

 

"The best thing is when you get really high up, probably too high. And you can feel the tree swaying in the wind. You hold the trunk with one hand and just look out at the other trees, or up at the sky. You feel like you could just reach out and grab a cloud."

 

"You used to draw trees a lot, didn't you?" Lance asked. "I think I remember the first couple times I saw one of your drawings in my arms it was some branches of trees."

 

"Yeah," Keith said, thinking back on it. "Trees are one of the things I doodled in the corner of my notebooks, so I knew I was good at them. When I figured out someone was probably on the other end of my pen or whatever, I think I was trying to impress you."

 

"Well it worked. I was very impressed. I'm sure you were very impressed with my additions to the artwork."

 

"Didn't you just add some circles onto the branches or something? What were those anyway?"

 

"Apples!" Lance said. "I'm offended you did not understand my art!"

 

"They were just circles," Keith laughed. "Way too big to be apples. And apples aren't round."

 

"Some of them are! I think!" Lance said defensively. Keith kept laughing, and Lance couldn't help but laugh as well. "Well some of us aren't as artfully talented as you."

 

Keith smiled. "Not true. I mean, you can't draw very well. But you've written some poetry."

 

Lance suddenly felt very sheepish. "Oh yeah. I forgot I'd done that."

 

"It was really good. Did you write all of that?"

 

"Most of it, yes. I think the stuff I didn't, I put the author at the bottom. You really liked it?"

 

"Yes," Keith said, smiling. God they were smiling so much. It would've been embarrassing if it wasn't just the two of them. "We should probably eat some of this food."

 

"Yes, I worked hard on this!" Lance tried to act serious, though couldn't with the ridiculous smile.

 

They settled into a comfortable silence while they ate. Silence that lasted all of two minutes until Lance felt the need to make fun of Keith. "So you eat pizza normally, but not cupcakes."

 

Keith threw a breadstick at him. "At least I don't inhale my food like some people."

 

"That's how you know it's good!" Lance laughed. "Apparently you just waste food by throwing it at your date."

 

"If my date had better reflexes then it wouldn't go to waste."

 

"My reflexes are just fine when I'm not distracted by a beautiful boy."

 

"I'm distracted all the time, but my reflexes are just fine."

 

"We'll see about that," Lance muttered before taking a bite of a new breadstick.

 

Keith raised an eyebrow playfully and mirrored Lance's bite. When he finished his bite, he asked, "So when did you learn to cook?

 

"When I was younger, every time I had friends over, my ma would always cook loads of snacks, often too much honestly. So I always learned, when people come over, they get food. Then there was a week when pop was in the hospital, and of course ma was there with him. My little sis had some friends over, so I tried to take on mom's role and make them snacks. Turns out the ability to cook is not genetic.  I was awful. I ended up throwing some cheese on crackers and giving them that while I tried to clean up the kitchen from where flour had gone everywhere. Cooking lessons started the next week. I got real good at breakfast food, and I'm not too bad at everything else."

 

"Why don't you cook more?"

 

Lance shrugged, "Hunk is definitely better than I am. His mama is actually a chef, and Hunk has been baking and cooking since he could hold a spoon. And I think cooking helps him cope with stress, and connected him back to home. I've got swimming to do that for me, so I leave the kitchen to Hunk."

 

"How do you notice so much about people?"

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I don't know. You just. You notice stuff. Things most people don't notice. When you talk about your friends, a lot of time you are thinking about their feelings, or noticing small details about their personalities. It's endearing. You really care a lot about people."

 

Lance smiled, and Keith smiled. Lance, under the table, nervously twisted a breadstick. Then he quickly lifted it over his head and threw it down at Keith. Keith tried to duck out of the way, but it still hit him in the shoulder. "Looks like you are distracted."

 

"What can I say, a goofy smile is a weakness of mine."

 

"I expected more from you, Kogane. How can you call yourself the Red Paladin when you get so distracted." Lance laughed while Keith crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, trying to suppress his own smile.

 

They went back to eating their pizza. Keith found it amusing they kept stopping to talk. Lance had something else on his mind. He could practically hear Hunk's reminder that he needs to talk to Keith about what happened.

 

Lance took a drink of water and began the part of the night he wasn't looking forward to, but knew had to be done. "So," He started slowly. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you right away. It definitely was not the right move on my part."

 

Keith was glad Lance had brought it up. "Thanks. I understand not knowing what to do. But you can't keep important things like this from me. It's no fair, and it's certainly not a good foundation for any sort of relationship."

 

"Relationship," Lance repeated, slightly hopefully.

 

"Are you actually paying attention to what I'm saying?" Keith said, trying to keep his slight anger cool.

 

"Sorry, yes I am. I know I need to tell you stuff. I guess I'm used to my big gossiping family where if you tell one person, everyone knows an hour later, but I guess I forgot that doesn't always happen. I promise I will be better."

 

"Thank you. Because this also was not something I should've heard from someone else. And I don't like secrets. I've dealt with those too much in my life."

 

"So about this relationship we are laying the foundation for," Lance asked. Keith looked down at his plate. "Hey, we don't have to talk about this right now if you don't want to"

 

Keith sighed. "No, we probably should. Communication and all that garbage Hunk is always talking about. Like, I've never really.  Been in a relationship before."

 

"Never?" Lance asked. Keith shook his head, slightly embarrassed to admit it. "I've been in a few too many, honestly. Some almost relationships, some undefined relationships, some two date long followed by ghostings."

 

"I've gone on about three dates in my life, all of which were weird and awkward. Well, I guess four now."

 

"Is this one just as weird and awkward as the other three?" Lance asked.

 

"Jury is still out on it," Keith laughed. Lance snaked his hand across the table and took Keith's which was sitting on the table.

 

"We don't have to decide about a relationship right now. That can be a few dates from now, ya know? And we can just sort of figure it out as we go along. Each relationship is different, so we are at the same level with the Keith and Lance relationship."

 

"I also don't want us to get in a relationship just because we're soulmates. We should be in a relationship because we want to. Not cause the universe wants us to, ya know?" Keith said. Lance nodded, seeing that he wasn't done, and wanting to let him finish. "And, I don't know. I think soulmates doesn't mean we are gong to like fall right into pace with each other. That's not realistic."

 

Lance squeezed Keith's hand reassuringly. "Like I said, every relationship is different. Klance doesn't have to be perfect at the start."

 

"Klance?"

 

"Keith and Lance. It's a combination of our name, so it's our relationship name." Lance explained. Keith gave him a blank look. "It's a thing. People do that!"

 

"Yeah, Klance is dead. Never say that again."

 

"Fine, fine. I will never say Klance again."

 

"And don't tell Pidge and Hunk to say it either."

 

"Oh come on, Kogane! That's so unfair!" Lance let go of Keith's hand to cross his arms.

 

Keith rolled his eyes, but they were both smiling and laughing about it. Keith looked over at the large observation window. Lance stood up and help his hand out for Keith, who smiled and took it. They walked over to the window and stared out at the stars.

 

Keith pointed at an array of stars. "Do you see those five stars that make up a bent line?"

 

Lance followed where Keith was pointing. "With the really bright star at the end?"

 

"Yes. There used to be a sixth in the array, but it died a hundred years ago. There are stories on the planet below about these stars. Some have stories of a group of warriors fighting against an evil which they finally defeated. Some tell a story of a king whose youngest child died. Others tell a story of a great queen being struck down, her light carried on by those around her."

 

"That is so cool. Sometimes I feel so far away from Earth. But it's nice to know that so many people look to the sky and create stories from the stars."

 

"I know. It makes these constellations feel a little more familiar." Keith looked over to Lance and smiled.

 

"So has this date been awkward and weird?" Lance asked, turning a bit more to Keith.

 

"It hadn't been terrible," Keith said.

 

"Well I can do better than not terrible."

 

"Oh can you?"

 

"Is that a challenge, Kogane?"

 

"Maybe it is."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I really tried to update it earlier. But It's here at last. I hope you all enjoyed!!!! This is the end of the fic, so you don't have to wait around for me to update anymore.


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